Walkout

United Airlines flight attendants say they could begin random walkouts tomorrow, just ahead of the busy Independence Day weekend, if the airline goes ahead with its decision to turn over their pension plan to the federal government. "We're continuing our fight to save our plan," Sarah Nelson Dela Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, said yesterday. She said a strike campaign could be one of the tactics used to achieve that. If the union follows through with threats not to board aircraft, it could cripple United's system, because federal regulations stipulate that planes must have flight attendants.

About 340 manufacturing employees at Middle River Aircraft Systems are set to strike Thursday barring an agreement with management on a new four-year contract. Members of United Auto Workers Local 738 narrowly rejected the company's contract offer Oct. 30, starting a 10-day cooling-off period before employees could walk off the job. The vote was 135-132 against the proposed pact, which includes increases in health care costs and changes in disability benefits for injured and sick workers.

A two-day strike by support staff at two major local hospitals was averted yesterday as Sinai Hospital and the Greater Baltimore Medical Center reached temporary agreements with the union that represents about 1,000 of their workers. The Service Employees International Union 1199E-DC and officials from both hospitals negotiated through the night Wednesday. The union reached an accord with Sinai at 5 a.m. yesterday and with GBMC at 6:30 a.m. On Wednesday, about 1,700 members of the same union ratified a new contract with Johns Hopkins Hospital, avoiding a strike there.

About 2,700 maintenance, housekeeping and other workers at three of the region's largest hospitals - Johns Hopkins, Sinai and Greater Baltimore Medical Center - plan to strike for two days next month to protest what they say are low wages and poor health care benefits. The Service Employees International Union, which is negotiating separate contracts for workers at all three hospitals, said the strike is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. June 8 and end at 6 a.m. June 10. A strike could be averted if progress is made in the talks before then.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Legislators approved Gen. Pervez Musharraf's hold on power until at least 2007 yesterday, despite a walkout by opposition members of Parliament who insist that his rule is illegal. The Pakistani leader, who seized power in a 1999 coup and has become a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, won votes of confidence in both houses of Parliament, the latest victory in his long struggle to legitimize his presidency. The balloting came on the eve of a crucial summit of regional leaders.

WASHINGTON - Amtrak unions renewed a threat yesterday to stage a one-day walkout to protest the rail system's tenuous financial health, after a federal judge rejected management's request to block the strike. But Charles Moneypenny, director of the Transport Workers Union's railroad division, said the unions "almost certainly" would not strike during the holiday season. "The unions need to get together and decide what our next step will be, including the possibility of a one-day walkout," he said.

Anne Arundel treats teachers shamefully Reference your article "Schools brace for teacher walkout" (The Sun, May 16): What a disgrace! The Anne Arundel County Government has determined that it will reduce expenses by depriving its teachers - the least well paid, and among the most critical members of the government's varied departments - of cost of living raises and scheduled step increases. The County has somehow calculated that breach of contract, failure to honor commitments and risk of losing scarce talent to other jurisdictions is the right way to go. Isn't that a fine example of "good government" at work?

HOUSTON - The rebel Democrats of Texas came home yesterday, five days after they turned the Legislature into an international curiosity by covertly leaving the state to fight a proposal that would have tightened the Republican Party's hold on power. The walkout killed, for now, the Republican Party's plan to redraw congressional districts, a move to capture as many as five seats from Democrats in 2004. The state House needed to approve the district map plan by Thursday to keep it alive, but the chamber was effectively shut down all week.

Anne Arundel County school officials began preparing hundreds of nonteaching staff members yesterday to take over classrooms if needed, in response to rumors that teachers plan a major "sickout" today to protest County Executive Janet S. Owens' proposal to freeze salaries. Superintendent Eric J. Smith said such a move - unlike the work-to-rule job action spreading among county schools - would be "inappropriate, harmful to children and ... illegal." He warned teachers not to disrupt the school day today or next week, when students are scheduled to take the state's High School Assessments.

Anne Arundel County school officials began preparing hundreds of non-teaching staff members yesterday to take over classrooms if needed, in response to rumors that teachers plan a major "sickout" today to protest County Executive Janet S. Owens' proposal to freeze salaries. Superintendent Eric J. Smith said such a move - unlike the work-to-rule job action spreading among county schools - would be "inappropriate, harmful to children and ... illegal." He warned teachers not to disrupt the school day today or next week, when students are scheduled to take the state's High School Assessments.