"This was a choice between bad and worse," he said in a statement after the terms were accepted. "The sacrifices IAM members have agreed to make are necessary for the carrier's survival, but there is not a guarantee of success."
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Those employees facing job loss have two options, De Pace said. They can either negotiate a severance package or apply for a position at another airport. Generally, NWA will use vendors at smaller, less busy airports, while maintaining NWA staff at the hubs, he said. There are about 112 open ground-worker positions at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, De Pace said.
"In places like Bismarck where there's no big rush, they can afford to hire vendors,"he said "At the bigger airports, there's just too much work."
Contract employees typically earn significantly less than those who work for the airline, De Pace said. The airline ground workers represented by IAM in North Dakota make around $18 per hour, while contract employees make around $12 per hour, he said.
"The bottom line is it's a real severe cut in pay," he said.
De Pace believes that may lead to problems for customers.
"With vendors everywhere across the country - because they pay people so little - there is constant turnover," De Pace said. "That's when you see service go down and you see safety drop."
The NWA statement said neither service nor safety will be compromised. Haug also said he did not expect major problems at Bismarck's airport. Haug noted that Delta Airlines operated in Bismarck using contract employees without problems.
"I think contract employees will be held to their contract,"he said. "We hope for the best and understand there may be some bumps in the road."
The NWA statement said "the change has no impact on the airline's flight schedule or its presence at airports around the country."
Bismarck Tribune
**As a side note, a lot of the Bismarck readers where quite outspoken at the bottom of the article. Lots of interesting perspectives at the bottom.
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