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NWA mechanics ask for release from talks

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pb4ufly

Just a Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2001
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131
Associated Press July 6, 2005 NWA0706

Mechanics at Northwest Airlines say they want to be released from talks now that the airline has rejected their pay-cut offer. If the mediator goes along, it would start a 30-day clock running toward a strike.

Northwest has already said the talks are at an impasse and asked to be released.

Northwest says it needs $176 million a year in pay concessions from mechanics. The mechanics claim they're offering almost $144 million, although the airline disputes that.

Union spokesman Jeff Mathews says the two sides met for about an hour and 45 minutes this afternoon but the talks broke off quickly because the airline wouldn't move from its concession request of $176 million.

A strike vote by mechanics will end on July 19. The airline has vowed to keep flying if mechanics strike.
 
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TonyC said:
We've already seen that NWA has been recruiting scab wannabes.






.

This guy (TonyC) has got scab on the brain, every airline has got scab "wanna bees" Dude get some help,,,,your job at FDX is not in jeopardy ok?,,,its ok..ok?
 
WRV-

Tony C is correct.

NWA Management has selected and trained about 400 replacement mechanics...............

320AV8R

Northwest, unions begins strike preparations Updated: 06/09/2005 11:52:05 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Northwest Airlines appears to have begun recruiting people to work as flight attendants in the event of a labor dispute or strike, according to a published report.

A job listing on Monster.com encourages candidates to apply by June 12 for a training program to become a certified flight attendant with the airline, the Star Tribune first reported Monday night. The job description, placed by a recruitment firm called Spherion, states that people who finish the training program "may be offered employment in the event of a labor dispute or strike."

Bob Krabbe, an official with the Professional Flight Attendants Association, said Monday that Northwest is engaging in a campaign of "intimidation and fear" by recruiting replacement flight attendants.

"What perplexes PFAA is that the company wants us to bargain with them, wants us to have trust in them, yet they are making secret contingency plans to train thousands of flight attendants," he said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that Northwest has gathered replacement mechanics and they are gatherin in Tuscon, Ariz. this week. The possible replacement mechanics say the contracts they have been offered are "lucrative."

The mechanic's union plans to meet in the Twin Cities today to discuss the possibility of a strike.

Northwest, which is negotiating contracts with three of its four largest unions, is demanding $1.1 billion in annual labor savings.

Last month, Internet recruitment ads surfaced for replacement mechanics who were being offered $32 an hour, paid housing and a $2,000 bonus. And a steady stream of stock sales by Northwest's chairman, Gary Wilson, has some employees worried that the airline is preparing to file for bankruptcy if it doesn't get what it sees as timely relief from its labor costs.

Northwest, in a statement, defended the recruiting of replacement workers.

"Northwest is aware of significant strike planning activity underway at several of its unions," the airline said Monday. "If one of its unions chooses to strike the carrier or engage in job actions with the intent of causing disruption at some point in the future, Northwest must be prepared to protect its operations."

The Eagan-based airline denied that it has added mechanics to its employee payroll, but companies have been recruiting mechanics who want to work for a major airline in the Twin Cities.

The flight attendants union was in mediated contract negotiations with Northwest on Monday in Detroit. Krabbe said the PFAA would notify its members about the replacement workers' development.

"The first thing we are going to do is tell our members that they should not be frightened by the company's attempts to scare them," he said.

Many analysts say Northwest has the highest labor costs in the industry. Based on its huge pension obligations, large fuel costs and high labor costs, analysts have concluded that Northwest cannot sustain its current operations.
 
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What are the odds on W allowing the strike? Do keep in mind it's also peak summer travel season...
 
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nimtz said:
What are the odds on W allowing the strike? Do keep in mind it's also peak summer travel season...

He'll never allow it. I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but didn't the NW mechanics try to strike in 2001, only to be told that they couldn't by the President (something about national interest)?
 
DrewBlows said:
He'll never allow it. I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but didn't the NW mechanics try to strike in 2001, only to be told that they couldn't by the President (something about national interest)?
This may be considered an ignorant question, but I've got to ask it. What does the govt. have to do with the NWA mechanics not wanting to give up $176 million bucks?! It's already bad enough that the mechs are going to have to strike NOT because they want a pay raise, but because they don't want to take as big a paycut as NW is asking for. Rediculous. Why should the govt step in at a private business? The whole point of a union is for collective bargaining and when the airline knows that the trump card is the govt., what is their motivation to bargain with you?!

So, if the mechs decide to strike and the govt. doesn't allow it...where do things stand? Do the mechs keep working at the same pay or do they go back into mediation? What happens?
 
FWIW-

The NWA mechanics have dug this hole for themselves.

Just prior to their last contract, they voted out the IAM, and voted in AMFA. AMFA promised them big pay raises....etc... They got their pay raises......but traded SCOPE for it. Now, NWA wants to lay off almost half of them, which the mechanics agreed to in the last contract. You have to be careful what you negotiate.

They were not in any job action sitution in 2001.......that might have been the AMR mechanics......(?)

Dubya would love nothing better than for these guys to strike and be replaced by non-union workers. He's more anti-labor than any President in recent memory. He could care less about the middle class........toss the unions, erase the pensions, and take away Social Security while we're at it. He won't step in at all.

320AV8R
 
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Even though they do not fall under the RLA, W let the longshoreman walk and that cost the economy way more than a NWA strike would.
 

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