NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leaders of the union representing flight attendants at UAL Corp. approved late on Tuesday a tentative labor agreement with bankrupt United Airlines.þþThe Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) said on its Web site that the United Master Executive Council was unanimously recommending a ``for'' vote on the agreement.þþ``We have maintained all of our work rules, medical and dental benefits and preserved our right to fight against any effort to terminate our defined benefit pension plan,'' the statement said.þþThe tentative agreement includes a 9.5 percent pay cut to base pay rates.þþBalloting to vote on the agreement will open Jan. 18 and close Jan. 31, the Web site said.þþElk Grove Village, Illinois-based UAL, which has been in bankruptcy since 2002, has said it needs another $725 million in annual savings from its labor force to emerge from bankruptcy. The carrier is negotiating with its unions on wage and benefit concessions.þþNews of United's tentative deal with the AFA on Monday pre-empted a scheduled trial in which the carrier had sought court permission to terminate the collective bargaining agreements of UAL labor unions with which it had no agreement.þþThe AFA has threatened intermittent strikes if the carrier ends their pension plans.þþUnited's Chief Financial Officer Jake Brace said on Monday that the airline still needs to terminate and replace all four of its defined benefit plans. The airline and the unions will negotiate that issue over the next 90 days. þþ
Source: NY Times
