US Airways' unionized Pittsburgh pilots have voted 319-150 to remove pilot Tim Baker as local union leader and representative to the Air Line Pilots Association's master executive council.

Many pilots were angry that Baker was one of nine executive council members who in March approved an agreement with US Airways to terminate the pilots' pension plan and replace it with a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k). The move could slash some pilots' retirement benefits by a third, on top of $565 million in annual wage-and-benefit concessions they already have granted.

What particularly enraged some members of the local -- Pittsburgh Council 94 -- was that they thought they had a promise from Baker that the rank in file would be permitted to vote on whether to terminate the pension plan. Though there had been precedent for that, it did not happen because of a vote of the Master Executive Council, the governing board of the union.

Baker could not be reached yesterday for comment. But in an interview last month, Baker seemed to have understood the emotions that drove many in the local to demand his ouster.

"With what the pilot group has been through, they didn't feel anything I didn't feel. I can't blame them for being angry and frustrated," he said.

The results of the vote were no surprise. In May, Pittsburgh Council 94 voted 277-3 to authorize the recall election. Since early June, union members have been voting by phone and over the Web whether to remove Baker from office. In all about 65 percent of the 713 eligible union members cast ballots in the recall election.

Dana Hardek, a spokeswoman for Council 94, said there would be a membership meeting to select an interim to succeed Baker. An election will then be held in which the entire membership of the local will vote by secret ballot to pick Baker's permanent replacement.