If there's a strike, when will it come?
 

First of all, I wish the flight attendants (and other NWA workers) the best. Although I'm a cheapskate, I'd prefer to see all the airlines pay better than the bare minimum, and offer decent, livable salaries to all workers. If they're going broke because of costs, then ticket prices are too low. I'd much rather pay an extra fifty bucks for a ticket and know that those working the planes are happy and competent.

I've never crossed a picket line, and don't intend to start anytime soon. But I could be facing a dilemma if NWA does face a strike.

I'm flying on an award ticket to Europe in late August, returning in mid-September. This is a trip that was set up a year in advance and can't be rescheduled.

Can anyone who knows suggest what the timing of a strike would most likely be - if there is one?

Thanks and good luck.

I don't think that there will be a strike. I think that the FA's are posturing--rightly so, IMHO! They may be driven to walk out, but, if the law still allows, the president might step in an mandate a cooling off period. Here's what I think could happen:

3:00 a.m. (some date) Flight attendants call a strike
3:01 a.m. (same day) President calls an end to the strike, creating a 60 day window for a federal mediation panel to sort of the mess.

President Clinton did this in 1997 when AA was in trouble. Since NW is in reorganization, I don't know if the president can involve himself in the way I described above. If he can, I don't expect a strike to last longer than one or two minutes. It may even be choreographed in advance. ;)

You mean something like this?
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/ma...nowe-m12.shtml

Exactly, but I don't know if the executive branch can intervene if the judicial branch is involved. I would certainly understand if the president does not have freedom to act when a company is in C11.

Remember the mechs strike? there was much more disruption 2-3 weeks prior to the strike. The FAs are blowhards, the judge will give nw an injunction and the fas will do a big sickout. thats my 2cents. Im surprised you booked this important unchangeable trip without using partners on skyteam. Hope you luck out

My situation, exactly--and the same situation I faced when the mechs went out. Luckily, there were no pickets at LAX when I left there on my way to Istanbul. But I came to this decision then: I wouldn't buy a NW ticket during the strike, but I could, in good conscience, use tickets I'd bought before the strike began. I don't think that's wishy-washy--just realistic. I guess it also means I don't think the FAs can bring down the airline.

I'm hoping (for everybody's sake, as well as my own, as I'm traveling June 22-July 4) that both parties keep their cool until after the FAs vote on their future representation. I would be surprised if the judge allowed anything major to happen before then.

no no no... Bush isn't up at 3:00 am... you'll have to wait until 9:00. He's a 9-5 president. :D

To be honest though, a strike would seriously inconvienience me. I am traveling every week this summer, and have in case of the possibility of a strike already double booked some of the trips (refundable of course) because I have to get to these places.

LOL funny! :) I think that the FA's might have to cross the line and walk out just to show they are really serious and feel they're not getting a good deal. I hope someone is able to suspend the strike and force a negotiation--the FA's may then sit from a position of a little more strength. I'd hate to see NW go under; I can't imagine that it would happen. Time will tell!

I really don't forsee a strike. The judge is not going to let NW toss out our contract, and we will reach an agreement. If the judge was to abrogate our contracts, he would be setting a difficult precedent, no airline in bankruptcy as of yet has forced it workers into a non consensual agreement. Furthermore, NW must secure exit financing before emerging from bankruptcy. I think this would be a challenge with the largest employee group on strike. It just doesn't make any sense for the judge to do this. I can only imagine it doesn't help their (NWA) case when they publicly state that "Judge Gropper's ruling is irrelevant to them, as they will immediately impose cuts and hire foreign nationals to replace 30 percent of us". The audacity and arrogance of this kills me.

So, keeping it factual: FYI to all, it is not about the paycuts, as everyone is led to believe. We are currently working for 40% less pay as it is. We realize and are very accepting of the facts at hand. Without going into too much detail, it is the way the company wants to implement said paycuts, the length of time of the proposed contract, as well as the major changes in our work rules. If this contract had passed, we would be doing DTW-(I dont even know the code for Anchorage) and back. That's between 8 and 9 hours each way. 18 hours straight work. Most of you know I am not a complainer, but that one would have even me as miserable as the NRT FA's. And that is just the tip of it. The paycut is soooo the nonissue.

Typically, in our history, the Flight Attendant group has been viewed by the company as a bunch of flakes (probably deserved) who couldn't come together on what to have for breakfast, let alone unite on a major issue. I personally believe the company saw us as the only group that they really didn't have to worry about. I understand the corporate side of things, and realize they have to push as far as they can. Well, this time it backfired. They just pushed too far.

As for a strike, nobody wants this, and I haven't even heard any mention of it at all among the ranks. You keep hearing this from the media. It's not coming from the inside. NWA can bully us all they want to, but we will return to negotiations. Just like Measba, Comair, and United 4 times in their bankruptcy.

The difference with this situation and AMFA (our mechanics) is this: about a year prior to negotiations, NWA started hiring, training and housing replacement mechanics. When talks came around, they had a full staff of mechanics at the ready. They then proposed: take a 40% paycut and vote out half your coworkers, or you will be replaced. Pretty underhanded, but they got what they wanted. I fully expect they planned to do the same to us.

However, now they are in bankruptcy and hiring must be appproved by the judge, and there's no way to complete that process secretly. Secondly, after the last scab FA hiring fiasco, applicants would most likely be scarce. And lastly, it is in our contract that any time there are furloughed FA's, they may not hire new FA's. That is why they brought everyone back last time, only to refurlough them in 2 months.

So again, I'm just not seeing the strike happening. I will be shocked if it comes to that.

It's certainly true that very few of the recent bankrupcty labor contract abrogation motions has come to an actual ruling: UA won one, and Comair lost one. In the UA case, the company did not pull the trigger and void the contract. The jury is still out on what will happen at Comair, complicated by the fact that in the extreme DL could just dump Comair and go to another Connection provider...

It's also true that no exit financiers will commit funds absent a complete set of solid labor agreements-- that is the main force working in the union's current favor. Working against that is the fact that NW has no DIP financing, and hence no covenants in place declaring automatic "meltdown" in case of a strike. NW management could therefore be just nuttty enough to think they could "win" a short strike and get even better exit financing thereby. Let us hope that is not the case.

Someone else mentioned the possibility of presidential intervention--- that's most likely not in the cards, not least because the parties aren't under the Section 6 negotiation procedures of the RLA which empower presidential intervention. Any strike called would be done citing the "major change" provisions of RLA case law.

Just to keep you correct.

I don't belive Dougie has changes his position on this......NWA has not been forced to use DIP financing and I don't believe they see the need to secure exit financing either, remember NWA has a TON of cash on hand and they have always said they would self finance their trip through bankruiptcy

Your post is the clearest, most even-handed thing I've heard from anybody with an actual stake in the proceedings. Thanks for the insights--and predictions. I hope they're accurate.

nwaflygirl, an excellent and non-emotional statement. Thanks.

I said here and at DL that there would never be a strike when the pilots were ready. No one wants to see the airline fold and be out of a job completely.

The FAs are in the same boat, but in reading nwaflygirl's post, they are going to get royally screwed . The pilots have agreed...

The FAs are the weakest link, and in the end, they will take what the company gives them.

Not a good negotiating position.... No job at all vs take it or leave it :mad:

None of the labor contracts go into effect until all are voted and passed
 

NW management is in "financial limbo" without the FA tentative agreement approved. They cannot put all of the other labor agreement into place until they have the FA agrrement signed and sealed.

I disagree that NW has the upper hand on this. The original TA between PFAA and NW was never approved, in fact it was voted down 80 to 20.

I think the FA's and NW management need to renegotiate a fair labor deal (perhaps with a BK Judge appointed Labor dispute mediator) and complete this process.

Just my 2 cents.......

RC

NW has $1.28B, which is less than every major carrier including DL. The ability to self finance operations and exit from BK continues to diminish.