United Airlines on Tuesday said it has reached several contract agreements with employees represented by the International Association of Machinists.
United and the IAM reached a tentative deal covering pilot ground school instructors from the its Continental subsidiary. Employees will vote on the agreement in coming weeks, the airline said. The union said the agreement would “provide for immediate improvement in wages and working conditions.”
United also reached an agreement regarding work performed by airport customer service agents. That will facilitate the integration and redeployment of aircraft now that United, for the most part, is operationally combined with Continental.
United also announced that airport ground handling work at five airports — Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Buffalo, Detroit and Sacramento — performed by outside vendors, will be done by United Airlines employees.
United and the IAM also agreed on several items with storekeepers, including seniority integration of the combined group of United and Continental storekeepers.
“Each of these labor agreements moves United and our co-workers forward in fully integrating our work groups,” Mike Bonds, executive vice president human resources and labor relations, said in a statement.
The union said in a statement it “is encouraged by these agreements and the progress that has been made on these and other issues in the recent weeks.”
United has yet to reach agreements with some major employee groups, including pilots and flight attendants.
gkarp@tribune.com
