President Bush in Washington said pilots shouldnot "make the innocent traveling public a pawn,"and he stood by his opposition to governmentintervention to stop the walkout by the8500-member Machinists union.
Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinnerappealed to Congress, where a House panel had ahearing yesterday, not to force the administrationto impose a 60-day cooling-off period.
Bush said that if the Machinists try to shutdown rail service later this week he will askCongress to ban such secondary boycotts. He saidthe strike should be settled through bargaining,but no talks are scheduled.
Secondary boycotts, particularly in the NewYork metropolitan area, could disrupt commutes forhundreds of thousands of people.
Unions representing workers at three suburbanNew York rail lines yesterday appealed a judge'sorder issued over the weekend barring them fromhonoring Machinists picket lines at railways. Anappeals court hearing was set for today, but thejudge extended his order through Friday.
Meanwhile, Eastern has just 1500 employeesstill working, down from 31,200 before the strike,Leonard said