NWA seeks deeper job cuts

09/09/2005

Liz Fedor,
Star Tribune
September 9, 2005

Northwest Airlines told striking mechanics Thursday that it now wants $203 million in annual labor savings, up from its original demand of $176 million.

That proposal, presented to negotiators for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), would include the loss of about 2,400 mechanic jobs and 800 cleaner and custodian jobs, or about 1,730 more positions than Northwest previously sought to eliminate, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

AMFA negotiators and company representatives declined to comment late Thursday night on the details of the proposal, which Northwest presented in the first round of bargaining since Aug. 19, when the union’s 4,400 workers went on strike.

Negotiations, which are being overseen by a federal mediator at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, ended about 10:30 Thursday evening.

Taking a breakJim GehrzStar TribuneTalks are scheduled to resume today.

Northwest has warned AMFA that it will begin hiring permanent replacement workers next Tuesday unless the mechanics agree to a new contract.

AMFA struck after rejecting a Northwest proposal that would have slashed mechanics’ pay by about 25 percent and eliminated about 2,000 of the jobs held by union members.

At the time, AMFA negotiators told the federal mediators that they were willing to accept 20 percent pay cuts and the elimination of 1,100 to 1,300 jobs in return for severance packages comparable to those approved for union members at bankrupt United Airlines.

Jeff Mathews, an AMFA negotiatorRichard Tsong-taatariiStar TribuneIt’s unclear how the company’s latest proposal addresses the issue of severance, which could be key to any deal.

And Northwest, in a letter to union leaders this week, had warned that deeper cuts were needed because its financial plight had worsened because of sharply higher fuel prices. The airline’s apparent ability to operate smoothly—a fact union members dispute—by using temporary replacement workers, outside vendors and managers to do the work formerly done by AMFA members strengthened its hand as it returned to the bargaining table.

Even so, the proposal presented Thursday includes terms much harsher than those rejected three weeks ago by the union.

AMFA’s ranks at Northwest, which totaled 9,795 in 2001, would be reduced to 1,020 mechanics, with 200 in Duluth and the remaining 820 split between Detroit and the Twin Cities, sources told the Star Tribune.

Thursday’s talks were scheduled to begin at noon, and both sides did not meet face to face until later in the afternoon.

“We had across-the-table discussions for approximately 30 minutes,” Jeff Mathews, a negotiator and contract coordinator for AMFA, said about 4 p.m. The union requested “that the company put together some of the things that we talked about into written form,” he said.

The union received the company’s written proposal early in the evening. It’s unclear whether AMFA has countered with its own proposal.

John Budd, a human resources professor at the University of Minnesota, said Northwest’s threat to begin hiring permanent replacement workers on Tuesday will serve as a deadline in the current round of contract talks.

If union negotiators don’t get a deal by Tuesday, “that leaves AMFA on the outside looking in,” Budd said.