Northwest Airlines says it has nearly completed hiring mechanics to replace striking AMFA members.
Joshua Freed, Associated Press

Last update: October 26, 2005 at 10:44 PM

The company has hired nearly all of the 880 in-house mechanics it needs, spokesman Bill Mellon said Wednesday. He said the majority of those are new hires, although some are returning members of the striking Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and some are mechanics who were laid off before the strike.

The union has said about 70 members have returned to work at Northwest.

Jim Young, chairman of the AMFA negotiating committee, said NWA's announcement won't hinder the union or the strike.

He said the union knew NWA would replace striking mechanics, but he said the quality of those replacement workers doesn't compare to that of striking mechanics.

He said two mechanics who recently crossed the picket lines returned because of their dissatisfaction with the work environment.

"The strike will continue indefinitely," Young said. "The company has told us all along that they would hire new employees, but that only means they have bodies filling those positions."

Union hot-line messages in recent weeks have focused on discouraging AMFA members from returning to Northwest. Tuesday's message quoted an anonymous letter from a striker who went back to work for one day but didn't return.

"The feelings of what I was doing far outweighed the money or the job," the letter said.

About 4,400 AMFA members worked for Northwest before the strike, including about 3,000 mechanics.

The union also represented cleaners and custodians, but their jobs were given to outside contractors soon after the strike began. The union rejected a Northwest offer that would have preserved 2,750 mechanics jobs and a later offer that would have kept 1,080 jobs. But both offers included steep pay cuts as well as other concessions.

Even if Northwest replaces all of its AMFA members, the union still would represent mechanics there. But under the terms Northwest imposed when the strike began, the replacement workers don't have to pay union dues.

Mellon said negotiations with Northwest's other unions have intensified. Northwest has asked its bankruptcy judge for permission to impose cuts on its other unionized workers, and a trial on the matter is scheduled to begin Nov. 16.