American Airlines Wins Trial Over Mechanics in Work Slowdown Case

American Airlines won a major courtroom victory over its unionized mechanics Monday when a judge ruled workers intentionally caused flight delays in their ongoing battle for a new contract.U.S. District Court Judge Charles McBryde issued a permanent injunction against workers under the Transport Workers Union and the International Association of Machinists that will give stricter oversight until the 11,000 employees are able to agree to a deal with the Fort Worth-based airline."[American Airlines] has shown that defendants' members conducted a concerted slowdown," McBryde wrote in the ruling. He also said the unions failed to "take every reasonable action to prevent or stop it."McBryde's injunction requires the unions to do everything they can to tell mechanics that a slowdown is illegal, including the possibility of fining its own members.American Airlines sued in May, accusing the unions of telling members to refuse overtime, turn down off-work assignments and otherwise slow down maintenance to penalize the carrier. The airline argued that the slowdown resulted in delayed and canceled flights for passengers.The two sides have been working on a new joint contract since American Airlines merged with U.S. Airways in 2013.  Continue reading...