United reaches agreements with two unions, resolves pension issues

United reaches agreements with two unions, resolves pension issues    Bankrupt United Airlines said Tuesday it has resolved all of its outstanding pension issues following the agreement from two unions to its restructuring plans.
   The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said Monday it had reached an agreement in principle with United on all outstanding issues, including a follow-on pension plan, for new collective bargaining agreements covering nearly 20,000 IAM members at United.
   On the same day, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) reported that its members working at United Airlines ratified the tentative contract agreement through electronic balloting, with 59 percent in favor and 41 percent against.
   “Our members accepted this agreement through democratic voting. Our choice was to consent to concessions from the company or risk even worse terms imposed by the bankruptcy judge, who has shown a proclivity to agree to company demands,” said O.V. Delle-Femine, AMFA national director.
   United said the agreements with the IAM and AMFA “move us significantly forward in our restructuring and set the stage for our exit from bankruptcy.”
   In a separate development, United has announced changes in the responsibilities of two of its senior executives.
   Richard J. Poulton has been promoted to senior vice president-business development. He was senior vice president-strategic sourcing and chief procurement. In his new role Poulton will take on additional enterprise-wide responsibility for information technology and business development, reporting directly to Glenn Tilton, United’s chairman, chief executive officer and president.
   Douglas A. Hacker, executive vice president-strategy, will lead efforts to assess United’s ancillary businesses as part of completing Chapter 11 restructuring, initially focusing on San Francisco-based MyPoints.com., said United in a statement.