(Fwd) Portuguese pilots resume flights after strike

["Curtis Price" <cansv@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Date:          Sat, 26 Apr 1997 07:29:57 -0700
From:          NewsHound <speak@xxxxxxxxx>

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Subject:       Portuguese pilots resume flights after strike



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Posted at 5:31 a.m. PDT Saturday, April 26, 1997
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Portuguese pilots resume flights after >>strike<<


LISBON, April 26 (Reuter) - Pilots at state carrier TAP-Air Portugal went
back to work on Saturday after a 48-hour >>strike<< which grounded
international flights and left around 14,000 passengers stranded.

A TAP spokesman said flights were operating normally but there were some
delays and the airline had laid on extra flights to clear the backlog.

The Union of Civil Aviation Pilots (SPAC), which represents the company's
430 pilots, said talks to end the dispute over working hours were
continuing and warned that there could be further stoppages if the company
failed to meet its demands.

TAP, which the Socialist government wants to privatise next year, is
seeking greater flexibility in working hours in an attempt to boost
efficiency and cut costs.

But the pilots say that they already work more than colleagues with rival
European airlines and that increasing their workload threatened the safety
of planes.

TAP lost 10.5 billion escudos ($61 million) in 1996. It had been hoping to
make a profit for the first time in 23 years in 1997 but the company says
that the >>strike<< has cost some $6.0 million and may wipe out all the
expected gain.  REUTER Reut08:25 04-26-97

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