Northwest is recalling 1,131 Flight Attendants

[West Side Story]

AFA-CWA NWA Special E-mail Newsletter

06SEP06

Northwest Airlines announced today that it is recalling all 1,131 voluntary and involuntary furloughed flight attendants. All furloughed flight attendants will be returning to work September 30, 2006 as part of an involuntary recall.

The Association of Flight Attendants is pleased to see our union brothers and sisters reappearing on the line. Their return indicates Northwest’s continued growth and the airline’s return to profitability. The timely recall decision follows Northwest’s recent financial gains.

Managements plan calls for mailing letters tomorrow, Thursday, September 7th, to the homes of those affected individuals. Individuals will have just 7 days to respond. Please refer to Section 14 of the Imposed Work Rules for the recall provisions. Any individual who does not respond during that time will be considered to have voluntarily resigned.

If you know of anyone who is in this group, be sure to notify them.

For frequently asked questions and answers, please see default.asp?id=371 ). If you have any other questions, please e mail them to us at [email protected] and we will include them in our FAQ link.

Please join us in welcoming our returning flight attendant colleagues.

Remember, even though management has rejected our contract, the imposed work rules are in place and can be enforced. Observe the imposed work rules. If management commits a violation, contact AFA about filing a grievance.

This concludes your special hotline message. Stay tuned, Stay informed, Get to a CHAOS expo, the code word is “PREPAREâ€￾. Take care of your self, and each other.

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Northwest recalls all furloughed flight attendants

Associated Press
Thu, Sep. 07, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS - Northwest Airlines sent a memo to its flight attendants late Wednesday announcing the recall of all 1,131 flight attendants currently on both voluntary and involuntary furloughs.

According to the memo obtained by KSTP-TV, all flight attendants are being recalled to fill permanent vacancies at their former bases, effective Sept. 30.

Northwest issued a statement confirming details of the memo from Suzanne Boda, vice president-inflight services.

Boda's memo also said Northwest will bring back an undisclosed number of pilots.

Flight attendants are being recalled because more people than anticipated earlier are expected to fly in the remainder of 2006 and 2007, Northwest said. Also, the airline said it needs to fill jobs of flight attendants who have retired or quit.

Northwest, which is trying to emerge from bankruptcy, imposed $195 million in cuts on flight attendants with a judge's permission after union members twice voted down two negotiated settlements.

Flight attendants have said the pay cuts amount to as much as 40 percent when health insurance increases are factored in. Those cuts, flight attendants said, have caused some lower-seniority employees to leave Northwest for other jobs.

Flight attendants have threatened scattershot walkouts aimed at pressuring Northwest to offer them a better deal. However, a New York judge temporarily blocked members of the Association of Flight Attendants from striking while he decides whether they must follow some of the lengthy requirements of the Railway Labor Act, including a 30-day cooling-off period.

Flight attendants have argued they're free from requirements of the Railway Labor Act because Northwest imposed pay cuts and other changes on them without their consent.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero is expected soon.

 

[jimntx]

As was posted on another thread, the timing of this recall is extremely odd. Two possibilities here...

1. NWA expects recalled furloughees to be so grateful to have a f/a job again that they will vote FOR the imposed TA--should a vote be held.
2. NWA expects the majority of furloughees to refuse recall opening the door to new hires.

I think #2 is the more likely scenario. Given the judge's willingness to grant a restraining order that neither the BK law nor the RLA grants him the right to issue, and given the AFA's apparent UN-willingness to protest this move by the judge, it should be no problem for the company to get the judge to impose a "B, C, or D" scale pay rate for the new hires.

This would effectively institutionalize the SCABS and the AFA would still be able to collect dues from the new hires. Win-Win for everyone except the flight attendants.

 

[tech2101]

As was posted on another thread, the timing of this recall is extremely odd. Two possibilities here...

1. NWA expects recalled furloughees to be so grateful to have a f/a job again that they will vote FOR the imposed TA--should a vote be held.
2. NWA expects the majority of furloughees to refuse recall opening the door to new hires.

I think #2 is the more likely scenario. Given the judge's willingness to grant a restraining order that neither the BK law nor the RLA grants him the right to issue, and given the AFA's apparent UN-willingness to protest this move by the judge, it should be no problem for the company to get the judge to impose a "B, C, or D" scale pay rate for the new hires.

This would effectively institutionalize the SCABS and the AFA would still be able to collect dues from the new hires. Win-Win for everyone except the flight attendants.

QUOTE(Zarah @ Sep 7 2006, 06:10 AM)

The union should make an effort to educate these returning flight attendants on the current situation at NW. They will have a vote on any new contract and being out of the loop they could swing any contract in the companies favor.



My thoughts exactly Zarah. NWA will bring back as many of the recalled F/A's (with little seniority) as they can for two reasons.
1) They will have them in place around the system to scab if chaos happens (not likely) or
2) They will vote on the next AFA T/A. Their votes will make any T/A pass. Then NWA will count on the Senior F/A's leaving after dumping their pensions etc...and they will have a hiring program to bring in a new crop of Burger King wage F/A's in addtion to the recently recalled. All the while the AFA will be thumping their chest saying how they saved and created all these dues payers jobs.

 

[jenny@nw]

QUOTE(Zarah @ Sep 7 2006, 06:10 AM)

The union should make an effort to educate these returning flight attendants on the current situation at NW. They will have a vote on any new contract and being out of the loop they could swing any contract in the companies favor.
My thoughts exactly Zarah. NWA will bring back as many of the recalled F/A's (with little seniority) as they can for two reasons.
1) They will have them in place around the system to scab if chaos happens (not likely) or
2) They will vote on the next AFA T/A. Their votes will make any T/A pass. Then NWA will count on the Senior F/A's leaving after dumping their pensions etc...and they will have a hiring program to bring in a new crop of Burger King wage F/A's in addtion to the recently recalled. All the while the AFA will be thumping their chest saying how they saved and created all these dues payers jobs.

They're recalling with an overage! Stay tuned..........

 

[jimntx]

QUOTE(Zarah @ Sep 7 2006, 06:10 AM)

The union should make an effort to educate these returning flight attendants on the current situation at NW. They will have a vote on any new contract and being out of the loop they could swing any contract in the companies favor.
My thoughts exactly Zarah. NWA will bring back as many of the recalled F/A's (with little seniority) as they can for two reasons.

Judging from the "work" the AFA has done so far, I would imagine that the only "educating" of returning f/as to be done by AFA will be to tell them "the current situation is that you should pay your dues and be quiet. You should be grateful to have a job that we got for you by making the company recall you."

 

[The End]

Attention current nwa f/a's. You are being REPLACED by afa SCABS. The End

 

[jenny@nw]

Attention current nwa f/a's. You are being REPLACED by afa SCABS. The End

NO DUH. They should of struck WEEKS ago, like Princess (my idol) says.

 

[The End]

NO DUH. They should of struck WEEKS ago, like Princess (my idol) says.

Jenny,
I realize my post was painfully obvious. It has been my experience that some people need it to be spelled out for them. Either through their unwillingness to believe it or they are just naive. They live in some sort of dream world that thinks corporate America(including the unions)care about them. I have worked with plenty.
I wish you guys the best of luck with your struggle. I have been through it where I work and I am sorry to say we lost this round, but the fight continues. The End

 

[jenny@nw]

Jenny,
I realize my post was painfully obvious. It has been my experience that some people need it to be spelled out for them. Either through their unwillingness to believe it or they are just naive. They live in some sort of dream world that thinks corporate America(including the unions)care about them. I have worked with plenty.
I wish you guys the best of luck with your struggle. I have been through it where I work and I am sorry to say we lost this round, but the fight continues. The End

nothing wrong with your post and you are right, there is plenty out there that are VERY ignorant.
"I only read up on what is going on with work when I get to work"
(then this is where they read those propaganda emails)

Sorry about the "Duh" but it is, like you said OBVIOUS.