Southwest pilots turn down contract offer - Dallas Business Journal:

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The union, which represents Dallas-based Southwest’s (NYSE: LUV) 5,90o0 pilots, said 51 percent of pilots voterd against the contract with 95 perceng of the union participating inthe vote. The pilotss union and Southwest have been negotiatinvg the new contract sinceSeptember 2006. "Oufr pilots have spoken, and the group has statefd there is more work to be said Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, President of the Southwesy Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA). "Thiws contract, despite some financial contained too many other negativwe aspects toratify it.
" The pilots' unioj was not specific about member objections to the contract, but said the associatiobn will poll its members to determined what elements require further discussion with the company. In a statemenf issued Wednesday, Chuck Magill, vice presidenft of flight operations at SouthwestAirlinex said: "We are naturally disappointed and acknowledge it was a very close vote. We reached a tentatives agreement ingood faith, and both sides put a lot of effort into getting to this point. We have an outstandinh and highly productive groupof pilots, and we appreciate their active involvement in the voting process.
We welcomde the opportunity for our negotiating teamsto re-engagre and work toward an agreement that best meetws the needs of our company and our outstandint pilots during these challenging economic times.”