Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 26, 1993 TAG: 9311290175
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
USAir management calls it ``bogus'' in both reasoning and effect. But the International Association of Machinists, which struck for a week in October 1992, says it could cause scheduling problems if the dispute lingers into December.
Union leaders have urged their 8,400 members at USAir to use a time-honored tactic known as ``work to rule'' to protest USAir's alleged failure to give pay raises promised in the contract that settled their strike.
The union has asked a federal court in Pittsburgh to issue a permanent injunction enforcing its viewpoint. USAir says the union's contract interpretation is wrong.
In work to rule, unionized employees follow every rule, regulation and procedure to the letter. They refuse to use accepted shortcuts or cooperate with managers any more than they must.
The airline has had no equipment availability problems, which would exist if a work-to-rule strategy were in effect, USAir's David Shipley said. USAir added unscheduled flights during the American strike, he said, while not experiencing an increase in flight delays.
Last year, the union agreed to a one-year, 3.5 percent pay cut that was restored Nov. 1. They also let USAir postpone any seniority-based raises machinists would have been due during that one-year period. The dispute centers on when USAir was obligated to resume those increases.
by CNB