Polar Air avoids strike
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October 4, 1999: 1:08 p.m. ET
Pilots reach agreement at financially troubled cargo carrier
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Polar Air Cargo, the financially troubled carrier owned by GE Capital, reached a tentative labor agreement with its pilots just past the deadline for a strike.
Details of the agreement, reached Saturday morning, weren't available Monday, but the settlement was reported by Marie Schwartz of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents about 150 crew members at Polar. Officials of the carrier couldn't be reached for comment.
The agreement was reached about 4 a.m. Saturday, Schwartz said. A federally mandated 30-day cooling off period expired four hours before that, leaving the union free to strike under the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that governs labor relations in the airline industry.
Polar, which flies 747 freighters for freight consolidators, is a major source of air cargo capacity between Asia and the United States. A strike at the start of the pre-holiday season would have left companies like Circle International Group Inc. (CRCL), Expeditors International (EXPD), Air Express International Corp. (AEIC) and Fritz Companies (FRTZ) scrambling to find space for their customers' freight.
The Air Line Pilots Association has represented pilots at Polar since 1996, but this would be their first contract. Union staff said last week it was seeking the restoration of a 1997 10 percent pay cut at the carrier and pay increases of less than 3 percent annually through the end of 2001.
The company had threatened that if there was a strike it would close the airline, which lost money the last two years and only broke even in the second quarter this year.
Officials from ALPA said there has been a 50 percent turnover in crew members at Polar since the beginning of last year and that union members at the airline were confident they could find other jobs if Polar were to close.
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