EASTERN PILOTS SAY STRIKE IS POSSIBLE
A strike by machinists
against Eastern Airlines is very likely before the end of the
year and Eastern pilots would probably honor the picket line,
the president of the airline pilots' union said.
     Capt. Henry A. Duffy, president of the Air Line Pilots
Association, told a group of aviation executives meeting in
Atlanta Duffy said the pilots' union has a contract through
1988 with Eastern Airlines.
    However, a contract between Eastern and the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is due to
expire this year, Duffy said.
    If the machinists strike, which seems likely, Eastern
pilots probably would refuse to cross picket lines, he added.
    Noting that the pilots' union had clashed several times
with Eastern's parent, Texas Air Corp <TEX.A>, Duffy said, "We
have had a difficult relationship with Texas Air wherever they
have existed in the industry."
    Eastern's pilots had picketed the airline recently over new
sick leave policies and Duffy repeated criticisms of those
policies in his speech today.
    "The new policies pressure us to try to fly when we're sick
against federal air regulations and pressure us to fly beyond
federal air limits," Duffy said. "For all those reasons, we don't
see a very happy future over there."
 Reuter
