Free market economy in action

While the CEO of USAir's salary and stock package earns him well over 11 million dollars, a bankruptcy judge granted USAir authority past Friday to temporarily cut the pay of its union workers by 21 percent. This means that the average US Airways salary would drop from $59,509 to $47,012, putting the airline below the other five major traditional carriers as well as Southwest Airlines.

So if you were a USAir employee sulking over 12,000 dollars of salary loss, this is what your motherfucker (CEO) had to say, "The company was still calculating the financial effect of the decision, but I am pleased".

The union wages in the airline industry are dependent on seniority, he said. So a flight attendant, for instance, might see his or her wages drop from $41 to $31 an hour as a result of the pay cut.

But if these flight attendants left USAir to join another airline they'd have to start at the bottom of the ladder at $19 or $20 an hour. So basically they are fucked either way.