Say They're Entitled To Back-Pay

Well, they've finally done it. Union pilots flying for helicopter operator PHI are picketing, after more than two years of wrangling with the company. The current contract expired in May 2004... and the negotiations have dragged on since then.

The dispute even found its way before the National Mediation Board in Washington, DC -- but without an agreement from both sides, the parties were released in August. Since then, PHI has instituted pay increases which they call industry leading... and above its competitors.

But the pilot's union says they are owed an additional $5 million in back pay from the time the previous contract ended. The company refuses to give... and the two sides remain at loggerheads.

PHI is a helicopter aviation company with around 540 chopper, and 20 fixed-wing pilots. They have bases in 15 states across the US providing emergency medical transportation... but their bread and butter is providing air transport to and from off-shore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

PHI claims giving in to union demands would jeopardize its bottom line. Union officials say it's about pay... vacation... unused sick leave and mandatory overtime.

According to the Lafayette Advertiser, representatives from hospitals served by PHI say they've not been affected yet. However, Air Logistics -- a PHI competitor -- says they are already working overtime in the Gulf.

Air Logistics' president told the Advertiser they don't have many extra helicopters... no one does around the Gulf... and he thinks PHI and its union pilots will settle the dispute quickly.

The union says more than 80 percent of PHI's pilots are on strike, but the company says no -- it's 25-percent. Hopefully, their inability to agree even on the number of pilots involved isn't an indicator for future negotiations.

FMI: www.phihelico.com