NWA makes new offer to mechanics

08/17/2005

Greg Gordon,
Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
August 17, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Negotiators for financially tottering Northwest Airlines made a new “economic offer” to its mechanics union Wednesday, two days before a strike deadline, a union spokesman said.

Neither the company nor Jeff Mathews, the spokesman for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), would provide details of the offer made during a third day of talks at the National Mediation Board headquarters. Nor would they say whether it was an improvement over previous company proposals.

Northwest, attempting to avert bankruptcy in the face of $11.8 billion in debts to lenders and underfunded pension plans, is seeking $1.1 billion-a-year in permanent pay and benefit concessions from its employees.

Mathews said Julie Hagen Showers, Northwest’s vice president for labor relations, presented the offer Wednesday morning in a session overseen by federal mediator Zachery Jones.

“We’re in the process of analyzing it,” Mathews said.

Showers was joined at the bargaining table by Andy Roberts, Northwest’s executive vice president of operations.

Northwest has already cut more than 5,000 AMFA-covered jobs, mostly mechanics. It wants the union to absorb $176 million in concessions, accept the elimination of another 2,000 jobs and agree to the outsourcing of more maintenance work.

A key issue is how much severance pay would be offered to anyone losing his or her job. A union negotiations update for AMFA members said the company reiterated Tuesday that “there was no viable way to retain ... [AMFA-covered] cleaners and custodians” and that Northwest laid out a severance proposal for those workers.

AMFA negotiators, joined by National Director O.V. Delle-Femine, called the severance package “grossly inferior” to one provided to the same employee group at bankrupt United Airlines, the union bulletin said.

It said the two sides appeared to be “resolving language issues,” but have yet to sign off on a complete article.

Northwest officials declined to comment on their economic proposal.