[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 12 (Monday, March 24, 1997)]
[Page 387]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Tentative Agreement in the Dispute Between American 
Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association

March 20, 1997

    I am pleased by the announcement yesterday that the negotiating 
teams for American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association have 
reached a tentative agreement on their longstanding labor dispute. This 
tentative agreement will be presented on Friday to the APA board of 
directors for approval and subsequent ratification by the union 
membership.
    I want to commend the management of American Airlines and the 
leadership of the Allied Pilots Association for their commitment to each 
other and to the traveling public. I think it speaks well of the parties 
and their intentions that this tentative agreement was reached more than 
5 weeks before the April 28 ``cooling off'' deadline. When labor and 
management work together, as they did here, U.S. industries are better 
able to maintain their prominent positions in the global marketplace.
    I also want to thank Presidential Emergency Board Chairman Robert 
Harris and the other members of the panel, Helen Witt and Anthony 
Sinicropi, for their dedication and hard work. This settlement would not 
have been possible without their leadership and oversight.