Eastern Airlines turned down a union request.

The unions had asked for a 60-day postponement of the scheduled Nov. 25 shareholders meeting, called to approve the airline’s merger with Texas Air Corp. The union wanted the postponement to allow employee groups more time to mount their own buyout bid. The merger is expected to be approved in the meeting since Texas Air already owns more than 51% of Eastern’s stock. Charley Bryan, head of the machinists’ union local and a member of the 21-member board, had asked for the delay on behalf of a union coalition that says it wants to buy the troubled carrier to keep it away from Texas Air.