NATION IN BRIEF : ILLINOIS : 2 Union Officials at United Airlines Quit

Two top officials of the United Airlines flight attendants union stepped down in Chicago after five years that covered a bitter strike, corporate restructuring and ongoing buyout machinations. “We’ve been under siege since 1985,” said Carol Holmes, vice president of the United unit of the Assn. of Flight Attendants. She and Pat Friend, president of the Chicago-based unit, announced in December they would resign Monday, six months before their terms expire. The union remains deadlocked in contract talks with United and faces a possible strike. United is pressing the 13,000-member unit for concessions its leaders say are not needed by a company as profitable as parent UAL Corp. Diane Robertson, a past union president, was named by the union’s master executive council to replace Friend. Holmes’ successor will be chosen this month.