Decision Made Final After Three Weeks Of Deliberations
The courts have
spoken... there will be no strike by flight attendants at Northwest
Airlines, period. US District Court Judge Victor Marrero overturned
an earlier bankruptcy court decision Friday, and granted
Northwest's request for a preliminary injunction to prevent a
threatened strike or work action by the company's flight
attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
(AFA).
"Judge Marrero's decision to grant Northwest the injunction
allows our customers to continue to book Northwest Airlines with
confidence, knowing that we will get them to their destinations
reliably," said Northwest CEO Doug Steenland. "While the court
decision is reassuring to our customers, we remain committed to
negotiating a consensual agreement with our flight attendants. We
hope to accomplish that goal in the near future."
As Aero-News reported last
month, Marrero issued a temporary injunction August 25
against any work actions by the AFA after Northwest appealed
Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper's denial of the company's
request for a preliminary injunction. The ruling gave the District
Court time to consider Northwest's appeal from Judge Gropper's
ruling.
Upon review, Judge Marrero concluded that Judge Gropper had
erred in denying Northwest's request for an injunction.
Northwest and the unions representing its flight attendants --
before the AFA, the Professional Flight Attendants Association
represented flight attendants at Northwest -- have negotiated two
tentative agreements. In July, flight attendants rejected a
tentative contract agreement that Northwest had negotiated with AFA
-- which, like the earlier agreement reached with Northwest by the
PFAA, was endorsed by the union.
After the second TA was
rejected, Northwest implemented contract terms and conditions for
its flight attendants that met the required $195 million of annual
labor cost savings for that group... as is allowed under bankruptcy
protection. In response, the union threatened a series of random
work stoppages... which were halted by Marrero's injunction.
While Judge Marrero's final ruling appears to leave the AFA with
few options for forcing Northwest's hand in new contract
negotiations, the union remained defiant. "We believe this decision
is obviously an incorrect reading of the law and the rights of
workers in the United States. We will appeal," said AFA general
counsel David Borer.
"Management and the courts can gang up on us but they cannot
defeat us," added Mollie Reiley, interim president of the Northwest
flight attendants union.