Northwest's Expert Wrench-Twisters Think SARS is Mere Cover for Layoffs

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) says Northwest Airlines intends to eliminate an additional 700 mechanics positions due to SARS.

The union noted in a press release, "The airline has decided to establish three maintenance lines at the MSP maintenance base which require approximately 550 positions. Therefore the total number of layoffs under the plan would be approximately 150 employees, most of them from the MSP maintenance base.

"In a letter dated June 17, Northwest notified the union that the airline intends to eliminate 700 more mechanics positions, claiming that SARS-related drops in transpacific traffic justify invoking the force majeure clause of its labor contract."

The layoffs are to begin immediately, according to Jeff Mathews, AMFA contract coordinator for Northwest. "We consider this a clear violation of our contract terms and are considering the appropriate action to take," he said. "To our knowledge, Northwest was the only major airline to invoke the force majeure clause for the Iraq conflict, and now Northwest is the only major to attempt to invoke it again on the basis of SARS. This has little to do with SARS and a lot to do with Northwest's desire to cut costs by circumventing its contract obligations."

Mathews continued, "The current situation with SARS does not justify force majeure. In addition, Northwest's letter provided general data on transpacific traffic not specifically tied to SARS, and Northwest is implementing the layoffs without the required notification."

FMI: Northwest's Letter