By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
United Airlines flight attendants picket the airline's
Waikiki office yesterday as part of their informational
campaign. Their union was expected to resume talks
with the airline on a new contract some time today.

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Flight attendants
await new talks

They are asking frequent flyers
to sign leaflets urging a new contract

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

United Airlines flight attendants, seeking a pay raise and a better retirement plan, were hoping for talks to resume today in contract negotiations that have been going on since January 1996.

Members of their union, the Association of Flight Attendants, handed out leaflets and waved signs outside United ticket offices in Honolulu Tuesday and yesterday as part of what they say is a public education program.

The leaflets urged United's frequent flyers to support the airline's 21,500 flight attendants in their fight for a new contract.

The latest round of talks started in Honolulu last month and broke for the Fourth of July weekend. Maureen Reinecke, the Honolulu spokeswoman for the union, said that the two sides were told by a federal mediator to meet again today. The time and place of the meeting is being kept confidential, she said.

If they don't get what they want, the flight attendants' union says it will launch "CHAOS" (for "Create Havoc Around Our System"), a campaign to disrupt schedules by striking one flight at a time without warning. Before that, however, the two sides would have to declare an impasse and go through a 30-day cooling off period.

United said it is attempting to negotiate in good faith toward a contract that is fair to all.