Some of United's more than 50,000 union employees said they did not see a clear path for the airline's future or their continued employment.

Most of the other union employees get 10 percent extra pay for night duty.

Keeping the union employees on the payroll will cost about $1.5 million a week, he said.

He said the union employees would be allowed to fill their normal shift if they reported for work on time.

The people who know those jobs best are union employees.

In a 2003 strike, however, the university claimed that more union employees were working than striking.

She said union employees earned an average of $25,000 a year.

But he noted that the corporation had no control over the hiring of union employees.

The company said it would focus the cuts in the ranks of management rather than among union employees.

The company's 20,500 union employees will vote on the accord in a few weeks, the spokesman said.