At In These Times:
Four months after filing for bankruptcy, last week American Airlines’ parent company AMR petitioned a judge to override its union contracts. In a letter to employees, American CEO Thomas Horton said that “with losses mounting and oil prices rising, there is growing urgency to move more quickly.” Horton wrote that “consensually negotiated contracts…will remain the ultimate objective” in union negotiations. But he warned that “failure to make the right changes is failure and that puts all jobs at American at risk.”