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United unions demand rewards

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 28, 2007 at midnight

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Several United Airlines unions, expressing "outrage" over pay and reward packages given to the company's top executives, have banded together to lobby the carrier for increased compensation.

The groups, which represent 30,000 flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and engineers, have formed a coalition "to demand our fair share in the financial rewards that management currently enjoys," according to a statement released Tuesday.

The unions are pushing for improved compensation and success-sharing benefits now that United is back on track financially. The unions also want United to address some work-life issues and move up collective bargaining dates for new contracts. United employees took two rounds of benefit and pay cuts in recent years to help the carrier through bankruptcy.

"There are a few executives reaping these great rewards, while everyone else is being treated poorly," said Sara Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants.

The announcement of the coalition comes a day after the carrier filed documents with U.S. regulators showing that its top executive received nearly $40 million in compensation last year, including salary, stock awards and other perks. The calculations include the value of those stock awards and options on the day they were granted, although they vest over a four-year period and could be worth more or less when cashed in.

United's top five executives received 2006 compensation packages valued at about $100 million over the course of several years.

The carrier emphasized that the value of the stock awards and options are tied to the company's performance, so executives could get much less if the company falters. United also pointed out that it gave employees $11 million in profit sharing and $1.5 billion in stock and cash when the carrier exited bankruptcy.

"We regularly work with our unions to address issues important to them," said United spokeswoman Jean Medina.

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