Wed, Mar 22, 2006
Reactions To Deals From Other Workers Mixed
Leaders of the pilots
union at Northwest Airlines voted last week to take a neutral
position on the tentative agreement reached with the airline
earlier this month. That means while the union won't discourage its
membership from approving the contract, it won't actively support
the measure, either -- and that casts doubt on the deal passing
muster with pilots.
Officers with the NWA Master Executive Council of the Air Line
Pilots Association (ALPA) said it's up to individual pilots to
decide whether the benefits of signing the agreement is worth the
risks. The council's officers may voice their own opinions on the
deal when presenting it to pilots, but that's it.
Earlier this month, union leadership council chairman Mark
McClain told pilots he believes pilots should vote in favor of the
deal, citing "no reasonable alternatives" to the agreement, which
goes before the union membership for balloting April 6 through
April 30.
Aero-News reported on March 3 that
negotiators for Northwest and the pilots union had finally
reached a tentative agreement -- ending the
ongoing showdown that often appeared to be heading toward a pilots
strike.
As for deals Northwest had reached with its other workers,
reactions have been mixed. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
reports the airline's ticket and reservations agents ratified their
new contract -- but baggage handlers and ramp workers tossed theirs
out, which led Northwest to say it will restart the process to have
their existing contract tossed out.
Members of Northwest's flight attendants union are expected to
begin voting on their tentative contract later this month.
Spokeswoman Karen Schultz said that like the pilots union, leaders
of their union are also making no recommendation on the
contract.
All of the contracts include pay cuts ranging from 11.5 percent
for ground workers, to 24 percent for pilots. That's on top of the
15 percent pay cut pilots took in late 2004. The new agreement
would also allow Northwest to begin a new low-cost regional
subsidiary.
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