Attendants union decries executive bonuses

Fort Worth, Texas -- American Airlines flight attendants will be wearing buttons asking the U.S. company's executives to "Decline!" their annual bonuses, a union leader said.

President of the flight attendants union Laura Glading has asked the company's top five executives to either turn down the bonuses -- due in April -- or resign from their positions.

Attendants will be wearing buttons that say "Decline!" on one side and "Resign!" on the other. Should executives decide to keep their bonuses, the value of which can total millions of dollars, attendants will be instructed to flip the buttons over to reveal the "Resign!" message, the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram reported.

"Management will be setting the tone for negotiations with how they respond to this," said Glading, who called the stock options offered to executives each year, "greedy and cynical."

The union, which begins contract negotiations later this moth, will be
pushing to regain wage cuts accepted in 2003, when the airline was near bankruptcy, the report said.

In a company statement, American Airlines said the bonuses are "designed to align the long-term interests of shareholders and management."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.