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Unions balk at pay cutproposed by US Airways
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- US Airways unions say the bankrupt airline is "barking up the wrong tree" by seeking to ensure its solvency through imposition of 23 percent pay cuts on its workers.
Meanwhile, an airline executive testified Thursday that unless the pay cuts are imposed, the airline's cash reserves will be so low by mid-February that the airline may be forced to liquidate, putting all of its 34,000 employees out of work.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell must decide whether he will grant the airline's request to impose the temporary 23 percent pay cuts, along with other cuts in benefits. Thursday's hearing on the issue will resume Tuesday. The airline has asked for a ruling by Thursday.
Delta bankruptcy foreseen
NEW YORK -- Investors dumped airline stocks Thursday on spiking oil prices and grim predictions from Wall Street analysts that Delta Air Lines may file for bankruptcy within weeks.
Daniel McKenzie, airline analyst for Smith Barney in New York, said that Atlanta-based Delta is likely to file for Chapter 11 protection by the end of the month even if management wins $1 billion in concessions from pilots.
Reduced labor costs won't be enough to compensate for fuel prices and high debt-related costs, which Delta so far has been unable to restructure voluntarily, he wrote in a report to investors.
Abercrombie again facescriticism for T-shirt
INDIANAPOLIS -- Abercrombie & amp; Fitch's latest T-shirt is getting poor marks from USA Gymnastics.
USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi is asking the New Albany, Ohio-based clothing retailer to stop selling a T-shirt that has the slogan "L is for Loser" next to a picture of a gymnast on the still rings. The sport's governing body also asked members to boycott the store until the T-shirt is pulled.
"No individual, regardless of race, gender, age, intelligence or athletic ability, can or should be deemed a loser," Colarossi wrote in a letter to Michael Jeffries, chief executive of Abercrombie & amp; Fitch.
Associated Press