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Northwest Airlines requests void of union contract
Combined News Services
June 7th
Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants rejected an agreement to reduce their pay by 21 percent and cut jobs, and the bankrupt carrier asked a judge to let it void the union's contract.
The Professional Flight Attendants Association threatened a strike if the judge allows Northwest to impose new labor terms. Its members voted down the tentative package of concessions by 80 percent to 20 percent, union spokesman Andy Damis said today.
The margin of defeat was ''a bit startling,'' said Robert Mann, head of R.W. Mann & Co., a consultant who works with both airlines and unions. ''As draconian as the terms are, they are quite consistent with what's going on in the industry, unfortunately.''
The vote is the second union setback for Northwest, the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, as it seeks $1.4 billion in labor savings to help exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Baggage handlers vetoed a tentative contract in March, leading to more talks and a new agreement on which voting ends Thursday.
Northwest said in a bankruptcy filing that if it doesn't meet its savings goal soon, it would be forced to reduce its schedule ''for the remaining summer months and lose additional millions of dollars in revenue.''
The union flight attendants union ''is prepared to immediately return to negotiations with the company in order to reach a fair and equitable agreement as soon as possible,'' President Guy Meek said in a hot line message to members. He said the union reserves the right to strike. A strike authorization ballot won support from 92 percent of union members in February.
Northwest has been seeking savings worth $195 million a year from flight attendants as part of $1.4 billion in concessions from all its workers. Most workers have approved concessions. The other
holdouts are baggage handlers and ramp workers, who are voting through this week on their own concessions. Their ballots will be counted Friday.
The rejection is a setback for Northwest's reorganization efforts. That's because none of its new union contracts take effect until they all do. That means that provisions in the ratified pilot contract allowing Northwest to start a regional jet subsidiary are on hold, along with plans to restructure how ground operations are handled outside Northwest's hubs.
The rejected contract would have cut hourly pay by 21 percent and would have left flight attendants making roughly $18,000 to $43,000 a year. The union said that increases in health insurance premiums and other concessions would have meant losing the equivalent of 40 percent of their pay.
The union said the vote was 5,195 against and 1,270 for. The PFAA represents about 9,300 flight attendants, although some were prevented from voting because they weren't current on their dues.
Northwest has a history of labor troubles. When mechanics struck in August, Northwest kept flying and eventually hired permanent replacements. Its pilots struck in 1998.
Combined News Services
June 7th
Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants rejected an agreement to reduce their pay by 21 percent and cut jobs, and the bankrupt carrier asked a judge to let it void the union's contract.
The Professional Flight Attendants Association threatened a strike if the judge allows Northwest to impose new labor terms. Its members voted down the tentative package of concessions by 80 percent to 20 percent, union spokesman Andy Damis said today.
The margin of defeat was ''a bit startling,'' said Robert Mann, head of R.W. Mann & Co., a consultant who works with both airlines and unions. ''As draconian as the terms are, they are quite consistent with what's going on in the industry, unfortunately.''
The vote is the second union setback for Northwest, the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, as it seeks $1.4 billion in labor savings to help exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Baggage handlers vetoed a tentative contract in March, leading to more talks and a new agreement on which voting ends Thursday.
Northwest said in a bankruptcy filing that if it doesn't meet its savings goal soon, it would be forced to reduce its schedule ''for the remaining summer months and lose additional millions of dollars in revenue.''
The union flight attendants union ''is prepared to immediately return to negotiations with the company in order to reach a fair and equitable agreement as soon as possible,'' President Guy Meek said in a hot line message to members. He said the union reserves the right to strike. A strike authorization ballot won support from 92 percent of union members in February.
Northwest has been seeking savings worth $195 million a year from flight attendants as part of $1.4 billion in concessions from all its workers. Most workers have approved concessions. The other
holdouts are baggage handlers and ramp workers, who are voting through this week on their own concessions. Their ballots will be counted Friday.
The rejection is a setback for Northwest's reorganization efforts. That's because none of its new union contracts take effect until they all do. That means that provisions in the ratified pilot contract allowing Northwest to start a regional jet subsidiary are on hold, along with plans to restructure how ground operations are handled outside Northwest's hubs.
The rejected contract would have cut hourly pay by 21 percent and would have left flight attendants making roughly $18,000 to $43,000 a year. The union said that increases in health insurance premiums and other concessions would have meant losing the equivalent of 40 percent of their pay.
The union said the vote was 5,195 against and 1,270 for. The PFAA represents about 9,300 flight attendants, although some were prevented from voting because they weren't current on their dues.
Northwest has a history of labor troubles. When mechanics struck in August, Northwest kept flying and eventually hired permanent replacements. Its pilots struck in 1998.
