United considers eliminating jobs through outsourcing
January 14, 2015 at 5:32 PM
United Air Lines announced this week that it is considering eliminating hundreds of jobs by outsourcing ground handling work at various airports in its system. The International Association of Machinists represents the affected workers. The union stated it was informed months ago of United's potential plans and now that the airline has identified the affected airports, the union will enter negotiations to see how United could retain workers within the airline. The IAM did not state that it had the abiliity to prevent the outsourcing, however.
The IAM defeated the Teamsters in 2011 in a union election to represent the ground handling employees following United's merger with Continental Airlines.
William R. Wilder
Member, Baptiste & Wilder, P.C.