Northwest has not been noted for their positive attitude towards labor groups, so this strike authorizing vote should be no surprise. What is a surprise is the fact that pilots might follow through and force the company into chapter 7. Hopefully some sort of deal will be reached before things get too deep. Watch this video from WCCO TV in Minneapolis on the issue.
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Northwest Airlines Corp. pilots voted yesterday to give their leaders the option to call a strike should contract negotiations fail and the bankrupt carrier win court approval to impose pay and benefit cuts.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement last night that voting members cast 92 percent of ballots in favor of authorizing a strike. Union leaders for the airline's 5,700 pilots could decide to call a strike as early as this week because a federal bankruptcy judge in New York is scheduled to rule today on whether to grant Northwest's request to scrap the contract.
Northwest filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 14. Since then, the airline and its pilots have been negotiating on a company request for $358 million in pay and benefit cuts. The Eagan, Minn., carrier says it needs the givebacks to help reduce labor expenses by $1.4 billion, stem losses and exit bankruptcy protection.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper has twice extended the negotiations, putting off a ruling on whether to let Northwest void contracts with pilots and flight attendants. The carrier is in talks with the Professional Flight Attendants Association, which has 9,700 members, on a request for $195 million in annual pay and benefit concessions. That union is conducting a strike vote that ends March 6.
Members of the airline's largest union, the International Association of Machinists, are voting on a tentative contract that would reduce their annual pay and benefits by $190 million. That union has 14,500 members, including bag handlers and customer-service agents.
The pilots union has said for weeks that it may call for a strike should the airline try to void the contract. Northwest thinks a strike would be illegal. U.S. laws haven't been tested on the issue.
Calls to Northwest spokesmen about the pilots' vote weren't immediately returned.
Pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc., which sought bankruptcy protection on the same day, also have been threatening to strike over the threat of losing their contract. The judge overseeing Delta's bankruptcy case is also expected to rule today on Delta's request to impose pay cuts on its pilots.
Separately, Northwest said yesterday that its fourth-quarter loss more than tripled, to $1.31 billion from $434 million in the comparable period a year earlier, because of costs from its bankruptcy filing in September and higher fuel expenses. Revenue rose 5.9 percent, to $2.92 billion, the company said.
The loss for Northwest's first full quarter under court protection included bankruptcy expenses of $922 million and an increase of $170 million, or 26 percent, in fuel spending. The airline has been shedding flights and aircraft and is trying to cut annual costs by $2.5 billion.The Washington Post
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