Trans World Airlines Lawsuit

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As for most union disputes, the results of a negotiation usually will end in one way. For Trans World Airlines (TWA), there was never happy moment. Although,TWA reigned as one of the largest airlines if it's time, it wasn't the most successful. Established in 1926, the airline experienced a multitude of changes that would deem the company to be unsuccessful. Later on in the companies history, a man named Carl Icahn invested $300 million into the company, mainly to have a control of the company. His goal was to lower the cost of labor by receiving pay concessions, which would increase employee productivity. This agreement would give pilots a 30% concession ($100 million) and a 15% concession ($50 million) for machinists. With these concessions, …show more content…

They believed that their pay cuts should be less or equal to the machinists. According to William Jolley (Frankovich's lawyer), " Icahn argued that the flight attendants were not breadwinner in the same sense that the mechanics were" (Kaps 31). Therefore, elucidating the suspicion of Icahn being sexist. As the disputes continued, Icahn finally agreed to settle with 17% pay cut as long as the their work was extended to two hours. The flight attendants still did not agree with the terms of the negotiation and continued to pursue better hours. Icahn believed that if the concessions were met and the hours were raised, flight attendants go from 6,000 to 5,000. Therefore, resulting in a gradual increase in savings. But, the flight attendants did back down from there goal due to the necessity of their pay checks. According to the book, " flight attendants were in their thirties and had families who depended on them as breadwinners; 45% had dependent children" (Kaps 32). As an action to resolve the dispute with TWA, the flight attendants went on …show more content…

Although the new attendants were to obey the rules implemented by Icahn, the feeling them and the previous flight attendants were soon to be mutual. According to the article, “400 attendants, out of a force of 6,000, had crossed the picket line. Along with the 1,200 replacements, TWA needed only another 2,300 to enforce its new rules, which would leave approximately 3,300 of the striking attendants out of work if the union did return because Icahn promised to keep the new attendants on the payroll.” (Kaps 33). This action continued the stand-off between TWA and the flight

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