Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 19, 1994                   TAG: 9408190086
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNIONS FALL SHORT IN VOTING AT USAIR

Of 9,874 eligible employees, 3,120 voted for representation. The employees include ticket and passenger-service agents and reservations personnel.

The United Steelworkers got 1,696 votes and the International Association of Machinists garnered 1,406 write-in votes, said the National Mediation Board, which counted the votes Thursday.

Under board rules, a majority of eligible workers must cast ballots to gain union representation.

The Steelworkers campaigned with a message that nonunion employees have borne the brunt of management efforts to cut costs. But that didn't get a rise out of those employees the way it did with about 8,000 ground-crew workers, who voted for Machinists' representation last month.

``People were paranoid about the company's financial health,'' said Howard Scott, a Steelworkers' organizer.

As the votes were being counted in Washington, leaders of USAir's pilots' union held two meetings with Charlotte employees to sell them on their plan to swap pay cuts for part ownership in the airline.

Most of the audience at the morning meeting seemed to accept that pay cuts are inevitable if USAir is to survive.

Still, some pilots expressed skepticism that management is capable of taking advantage of concessions.

Air Line Pilots Association leaders conceded that there's no guarantee USAir can find the $500 million in annual nonemployee savings that management has pledged. Even so, warned Charlotte Local 90 President Dennis Harris, ``There's no choice, guys.''

The pilots' plan calls for employees to make $2.5 billion in concessions over five years in exchange for 25 percent of USAir's common stock and $670 million worth of preferred stock. They also want four employee seats on the board of directors and a fundamental re-examination of how USAir operates.

The pilots would take 20 percent pay cuts over five years. Other employee groups would have to take similar concessions through some combination of pay, benefits, productivity improvements or layoffs.

``We're not giving more to make up for other groups' lack of giving their fair share,'' said John Leggett, a Local 90 representative.

USAir and its other unions have criticized the pilots' proposal. USAir likened it to a hostile takeover attempt. Unions representing flight attendants and machinists say it's unfair to expect their members to take the same percentage cut in compensation as pilots, who make far higher salaries.