Posted on: Tuesday, January 8, 2002

United's mechanics file lawsuit over panel

By Leigh Strope
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — United Airlines' mechanics filed suit yesterday to block an emergency panel established by President Bush that delayed the union from striking last month.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union wants a federal judge to set aside Bush's executive order establishing the board.

Creation of the board prohibits a strike for at least 60 days while the panel works to reach an agreement between the union and airline, based in the Chicago area. Overturning Bush's order would clear the way for the union to strike.

Bush acted after the National Mediation Board, which oversees labor relations in the airline and railroad industries, recommended he intervene and create a board to help break the two-year stalemate.

The union, which represents 15,000 United mechanics, had been set to strike the weekend before Christmas.

Federal mediators had no comment. A United Airlines spokesman said the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based carrier is "completely confident that there will not be an interruption of service" as a result of the mechanics' lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims the board did not meet a legal threshold when it recommended the panel to Bush. The union claims the overriding reason was to avoid a strike during the holiday.