Many regional officials thus expected that the contra army would be used to force the Sandinistas to accept important military or political concessions.

The latest agreement is the second time in about a year that Delta's roughly 6,500 pilots have accepted concessions.

He went on to say that the unions say they are ready to accept concessions, yet their actions speak louder than words.

Many union leaders assert that District Council 37 set a poor pattern for the city's unions when it accepted numerous concessions in its last contract.

The union will also have to accept concessions on overtime.

Turning down a demand for cutbacks, the musicians again went on strike and refused to accept concessions.

Similarly Republican leaders faced great difficulty in persuading their people to accept diplomatic concessions.

Last year, when the company endured a strike to force workers to accept various concessions, it lost $99 million.

In addition, two other divisions of the machinists' union voted early Thursday to accept concessions worth $800 million.

The pilots have agreed to accept concessions of $250 million a year; the amount would be reduced if other unions also offered concessions.