Tulsa, OK -
Jobs are in jeopardy at American Airlines, but the Transport Workers Union says so are others if an agreement isn't reached with the airline soon. "There's vendors that service American Airlines, and have employees that will be laying off. If American Airlines is out sourcing work," said TWU's Rick Mullings.
There's also those who depend on American's vendors, sell homes to the people who work at the maintenance base or depend on them to shop at their place of business. The union says it's fighting to make sure jobs stay grounded in Tulsa.
A new agreement could help, the company sure thinks so. "We reached agreements that addressed the needs of our people and still allow us to achieve the cost savings necessary for our company to compete and succeed," said AA's Bruce Hicks. He points to saving $35 million a year along with 1,800 jobs across the company. The agreement also calls for reallocations to profit sharing to make way for additional pay raises and changes in active medical benefits.
Mullings hasn't seen the details and doesn't know exactly how many Tulsa jobs will be saved, but he says the new agreement is promising. Still, they need hard numbers then members will vote. Until then, more waiting. "It's very aggravating to have to wait and have this put off as long as it has, and it's much more aggravating to our members as they're working without knowing what's going to happen," Mullings told Tulsa's Channel 8.
American reached a similar tentative agreement with the pilot's union. They will vote August 8, and Mullings says it's likely TWU could come to do the same by then.
