You Know The Drill...
Calling it "harsh and overreaching," on Tuesday flight
attendants at bankrupt Northwest Airlines rejected a tentative
agreement that, if approved, would have saved the airline $195
million annually. That rejection means that... once again... an
airline is expected to go before a US bankruptcy court for
permission to void a current contract with workers.
In a statement released by the Professional Flight Attendants
Association Tuesday, the flight attendants union reaffirmed its
threat to strike if that happens.
"We continue to urge the judge to deny NWA's application to
reject our contract," PFAA President Guy Meek said. "The carrier's
proposals are harsh and overreaching. They are misguided attempts
by NWA management."
Northwest maintains such a strike by the PFAA would be illegal,
and is expected to ask the court to prevent it.
The rejection of the flight attendant's contract is the latest
in a long series of air pockets on Northwest's route to exist
bankruptcy... and each day Northwest operates under the old
contract, the airline is spending money Northwest says it simply
doesn't have.
"We are asking the court for a speedy ruling on our contract
abrogation request because the airline's losses are continuing,"
said Mike Becker, senior vice president of human resources and
labor relations at Northwest, to Reuters.
The tentative agreement, reached May 1, was soundly defeated by
more than 80 percent of an estimated 9,000 flight attendants at
Northwest, according to the PFAA.
"The bankruptcies at NWA, Delta, United, USAirways and America
West eroded the foundation of the Flight Attendant profession,"
Meek added. "PFAA has drawn the line in the sand and intends to
turn this disturbing trend around."
As part of its
strategy, PFAA launched a "four-prong corporate campaign" aimed at,
among other things, highlighting any cash and stock looting at
Northwest; elevating PFAA's "Airline Bill of Rights" project to a
national stage; and appointing a team of members and professionals
to communicate with Wall Street investors, and the overall
financial community, about what the union terms "the truth at
NWA."
Over the next month, the PFAA will also conduct a vote to end
the union's affiliation with the national Transport Workers Union
of America, as well as voting to reject a hostile raid by another
union, the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers
of America.
Despite the setback, however, one analyst maintains the rejected
contract is merely a temporary misstep on Northwest's path to
financial solvency.
"It's a bump in the road," said Michael Boyd. "They'll go back
the bargaining table. Northwest has a clear plan. They're not
fumbling around, they know what they have to do."