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The pilot union at AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, said that it will vote on a tentative contract with the bankrupt airline by early December, Reuters reported on Friday. The board of Allied Pilots Association on Friday approved the agreement-in-principle reached last week as a tentative agreement, which will now be subject to votes by its members, according to a statement on the union's website. The voting will be completed by Dec. 7 and the results are expected to be announced the same day, the company said. AMR, which is trying to reduce costs and emerge from bankruptcy, has already reached collective bargaining agreements with unions representing its flight attendants and ground workers.

Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber ruling will be revealed today on whether to let Pinnacle Airlines Corp. slash its pilots’ pay, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Judge Gerber filed his ruling under seal on Thursday in court. Gerber has gave the stakeholders until the close of business on Friday to proof the document, looking for “any typographical or citation errors,” “technical inaccuracies” or slips that disclose confidential information. Pinnacle sought Judge Gerber’s permission to shave an average of $59.6 million a year in costs related to the pilot union contracts between 2013 and 2018, contending that is necessary for its survival. Earlier this year, that number was $32.2 million, but Pinnacle says that it got a message from Delta that meant bigger cuts are called for.

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said that it has sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers, Reuters reported today. Hostess said that a strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities. The Irving, Texas-based company said the liquidation of the company would mean that most of its 18,500 employees would lose their jobs. Hostess said that it took the decision to liquidate the company after determining that not enough employees had returned to work by a deadline yesterday.

Hostess Brands Inc. announced yesterday that it would move to liquidate its iconic baking business if striking union members did not return to work by this evening, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The company, which was on the cusp of moving forward with a reorganization plan when work stoppages hamstrung about two-thirds of its 36 plants, said that it cannot continue operating unless members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union return to work. The union launched the strikes last Friday in protest of a fresh labor deal, featuring deep cuts to wages and benefits, that Hostess implemented during its bankruptcy.

Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, said that it will begin permanently closing plants unless enough members of its striking bakery workers' union cross the picket lines to keep them open, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike Nov. 9 at some plants over what the union called the "unilateral imposition of a horrendous contract" rejected by 92 percent of its members. By late yesterday, the strike affected 23 of Hostess's 36 plants, the company said. Enough union members are crossing picket lines at about half of the struck plants to allow "full operations," the company said.

Bankrupt AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, has agreed with its pilots' union on language for a new labor deal to be voted on by union members, Reuters reported on Friday. AMR has been in talks with the Allied Pilots Association (APA) as it tries to reduce labor costs and emerge from bankruptcy. The APA's board on Friday presented a "counter-proposal" to offers from AMR management, which the company accepted. The contract must be ratified by the union's roughly 7,500 pilots, who rejected a previous labor proposal in August. AMR has already reached new collective bargaining agreements with unions representing its flight attendants and ground workers.

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said that it will have to liquidate itself and lay off most of its workforce in case of a widespread strike, Reuters reported on Friday. Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said that its members at some Hostess bakeries have gone on strike in response to court-approved pay cuts. The company, which employs 18,300 people, said that it will focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders if more workers choose to go on strike at other locations in the coming days.

As part of the Eastman Kodak Co.'s restructuring, Bankruptcy Judge Alan Gropper recently approved ending the benefits of health insurance for life and a survivor income benefit for nearly 56,000 retirees as of Dec. 31, Reuters reported yesterday. About four years ago, retirees started to feel the pressure of Kodak's money troubles through the loss of benefits such as life insurance and dental insurance, says Roberts, who worked at Kodak for nearly 40 years as a human resources director before retiring in 2008. The benefits that remained cost Kodak $10 million a month and are listed as a $1.2 billion liability on its books.

Eastman Kodak won bankruptcy court approval yesterday to stop providing health and welfare benefits to 56,000 U.S. retirees and dependents, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle reported today. Kodak had been seeking court approval to stop offering such benefits by the end of the year as the company said that it spends nearly $10 million a month on such benefits. The two largest wedges of the retiree-related debt are health coverage for 32,000 Medicare-eligible retirees, representing a $440 million liability on its balance sheet, and the Survivor Income Benefit for 7,500 people representing a $510 million liability.

Garment workers union Workers United is objecting to HMX Group's sale proposal, saying that it "would breach critical worker job protection provisions that are contained within the existing collective bargaining agreement," Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Workers United, which represents 1,100 workers at HMX's factories, said in court documents that the proposed purchase of HMX Group by intellectual-property company Authentic Brands Group does not necessarily require that company to assume the collective-bargaining agreement. The deal separates the intellectual property from the physical assets, including the factories, the union said, which makes it uncomfortable with the proposal.