THE BILDlSCO DECISION

By a 9 to 0 vote the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the federal bankruptcy laws as an open-ended tool for the use of employers who wish to unilaterally tear up their collective bargaining agreements. This unfortunate decision puts a weapon in the hands of unscrupulous employers such as Continental Airlines that will make contracts negotiated in good faith valid only so long as the employer finds them acceptable. The Supreme Court ruling must not be allowed to stand. Bankruptcy laws are designed to allow a business to continue operations while it reorganizes its debt. The Supreme Court decision puts collective bargaining agreements at the bottom of the list of creditors to be protected.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to reestablish a reasonable status for collective bargaining agreements in bankruptcy reorganization; the Senate thus far has refused to take similar action:

RESOLVED, that the AFT calls upon the U.S. Senate to accept the protection for workers in bankruptcy proceedings passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in H.R. 5174; and

RESOLVED, that the protection in H.R. 5174 be made retroactive so that Continental Airlines employees and others be offered the protection taken away by the U.S. Supreme Court.