NWA rejects union role

Airline comments anger mechanics

BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
Sept. 17, 2005
Pioneer Press

Northwest Airlines says its striking mechanics won't be a party to its bankruptcy reorganization, at least when it comes to labor contracts. That's because the airline doesn't intend to try to undo the contract it imposed on them.

And that means the union representing the mechanics, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, won't have a role in the bankruptcy process, the airline contends.

The airline on Thursday clarified blunt remarks made by CEO Doug Steenland Wednesday about AMFA and its some 4,000 striking members.

"There is no collective bargaining agreement," Steenland said during a Wednesday press conference. "When the strike began, the contract was terminated. … There is no forum, no hearing, no issue whatsoever between the company and AMFA in bankruptcy court. It is irrelevant to the process."

Those comments angered members of the mechanics union. Some had contended they'd do better in bankruptcy court with Northwest than they have fared outside of court.

Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said Friday that the airline still recognizes AMFA as the mechanics bargaining representative and there is, indeed, a contract between AMFA and the airline. But he indicated that what Steenland meant was that there was no collective bargaining agreement between the two parties that would be brought before the bankruptcy court.

"Because Northwest is operating under the implemented contract terms that provide the necessary labor cost savings from technicians, it is unnecessary to seek bankruptcy court relief for technician labor costs," said Mellon.

In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the airline could ask a judge to impose a contract on a union if the two sides can't reach agreement.

Northwest's imposed contract cut the top pay for a mechanic from about $72,000 a year to the low $50,000 range.

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MFA insists it will be part of the bankruptcy reorganization.

"We will be at the table once NWA has to acknowledge that their maintenance program is in jeopardy," said union spokesman Steve MacFarlane. "The Inspector General from the DOT is investigating the FAA inspector's claims that NWA is putting life and property in harm's way. We also believe that NWA is cutting corners and ignoring maintenance requirements to keep their fleet flying."

Northwest insists the strike has not had a "material" effect on its flight and other operations. At a bankruptcy court hearing Thursday, Northwest asked for permission to pay $55 million to vendors for services during its mechanics strike.

Since the strike began Aug. 19, Northwest has been maintaining its planes with a mix of 1,200 temporary replacements, about 350 managers who are licensed mechanics, and third-party maintenance firms.

In its last offer, Northwest said it had jobs for just 1,080 mechanics to work, about a third of those it employed before the union went out on strike.

This week, the airline began to hire permanent replacements for striking mechanics. Previously, the airline announced that some 900 cleaners and custodians had already been permanently replaced.

Overall, Northwest is looking to extract $1.4 billion in wage and other givebacks from its employees. The airline has lost about $3 billion on its operations since the start of 2001.