Flying Titan
Veteran
- Oct 14, 2003
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Aircraft cleaners use discount coupon as a rallying symbol
BY JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
August 22, 2005
Discount cards that Northwest managers gave employees for a job well done have become a picket-line symbol of how little the airline values its striking plane cleaners.
The cards say "Thanks for Your Hard Work," and are worth $3 off at restaurants like Taco Bell and Quiznos in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport.
"The recognition coupons ... are used by members of the Detroit management team to recognize a job well done. They are used with all of our Detroit employee groups and distributed by supervisors," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Sunday.
But in a nice gesture gone wrong, at least one Northwest manager continued to give plane cleaners the thank-you cards through their last shift before the strike began Friday.
It was a painful gesture for the plane cleaners because Northwest wants to eliminate all but 30 of their 800 jobs. They fear they'll never work for Northwest again, because the airline wants to hire an independent company to collect trash and vacuum its jets.
Rhonda Traylor said she refused a card offered to her.
"I thought it was a slap in the face," said Traylor, 43, of Detroit, who has worked as a plane cleaner for 10 years.When workers brought the cards to a Friday night rally, they became a symbol of Northwest's penny-pinching ways.
"How insulting after 16 years?" said aircraft cleaner Laura Byrd, 35, of Belleville, after receiving a coupon on her last shift Thursday.
The voucher became a rallying point on the picket line, as one striker made a large copy of the card and slapped it on a sign.
For Philisa Harris, 33 of Westland, the voucher came with a thank-you from her manager.
"His personal thanks was very much appreciated, but the company voucher was ridiculous," said Harris, a lead cleaner who has been working for Northwest for nearly 10 years. "We'd rather have our jobs."
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
BY JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
August 22, 2005
Discount cards that Northwest managers gave employees for a job well done have become a picket-line symbol of how little the airline values its striking plane cleaners.
The cards say "Thanks for Your Hard Work," and are worth $3 off at restaurants like Taco Bell and Quiznos in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport.
"The recognition coupons ... are used by members of the Detroit management team to recognize a job well done. They are used with all of our Detroit employee groups and distributed by supervisors," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Sunday.
But in a nice gesture gone wrong, at least one Northwest manager continued to give plane cleaners the thank-you cards through their last shift before the strike began Friday.
It was a painful gesture for the plane cleaners because Northwest wants to eliminate all but 30 of their 800 jobs. They fear they'll never work for Northwest again, because the airline wants to hire an independent company to collect trash and vacuum its jets.
Rhonda Traylor said she refused a card offered to her.
"I thought it was a slap in the face," said Traylor, 43, of Detroit, who has worked as a plane cleaner for 10 years.When workers brought the cards to a Friday night rally, they became a symbol of Northwest's penny-pinching ways.
"How insulting after 16 years?" said aircraft cleaner Laura Byrd, 35, of Belleville, after receiving a coupon on her last shift Thursday.
The voucher became a rallying point on the picket line, as one striker made a large copy of the card and slapped it on a sign.
For Philisa Harris, 33 of Westland, the voucher came with a thank-you from her manager.
"His personal thanks was very much appreciated, but the company voucher was ridiculous," said Harris, a lead cleaner who has been working for Northwest for nearly 10 years. "We'd rather have our jobs."
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
