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Northwest, employees face rocky relationship
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Northwest Airlines' relations with its employees have been somewhat strained in recent years. Even CEO Doug Steenland admits it.
That can happen when an airline loses billions of dollars, cuts about 20,000 jobs, replaces its union mechanics, lands in bankruptcy and squeezes wages, benefits and other labor costs by $1.4 billion annually.
But as Northwest works its way through its reorganization and nears its targeted labor savings, Steenland is talking up the potential to "repair and renew"company-employee relations.
Eagan-based Northwest has a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to take the airline to "new heights by fundamentally changing the way we interact with one another," he told managers at a company meeting in St. Paul last week.
"The next five years -- and beyond -- will be about respect for one another, listening to one another, openness to new ideas and new ways of doing things, inclusion indecision-making, a shared vision; a shift from 'us versus them' to just 'us,' unchaining the expertise of our co-workers, and recognition and reward for achievement. It's up to us to make those words mean something," Steenland said.
But union leaders say Steenland's words are not matched by actions. Northwest -- and its employees -- don't have any choice but to move toward less adversarial relations, said Charles Craver, a George Washington University law professor who specializes in labor and employment law.
Unhappy employees can make customers unhappy. And Northwest's customers are among the unhappiest in the airline industry.
In the University of Michigan's latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, Northwest ranked last among seven rated carriers.
Union leaders agree that a lot of Northwest employees are not happy with the airline. But they insist the workers continue to do their jobs well.
"Our people love doing their jobs," said Bobby De Pace, head of the airline's ground workers union. "It's management that gets in the way."
De Pace says employees aren't about to forget recent -- and past -- wrongs they feel Northwest did them.
"This is more like a broken branch than an olive branch," De Pace said of Steenland's speech. "Now that our negotiation process is done, they think they can say, 'Let's be friends.' It's not going to happen."
The airline's relations with its flight attendants are especially frosty. They are the one major employee group with which Northwest doesn't have a negotiated -- or imposed -- contract.
"We hope his enthusiasm for building relations with employees will be reflected at the table," said union spokeswoman Karen Schultz. "It has not been shown in the treatment of employees, their families and their communities."
Achieving the type ofmanagement-employee relationship that Steenland envisions is certainly a long shot, said John Budd, a professor of human resources at the University of Minnesota.
"Management is going to have to work very hard to show that it is serious about truly changing its approach," Budd said. "How you do this while simultaneously demanding huge concessions is anyone's guess."
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Northwest, employees face rocky relationship
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Northwest Airlines' relations with its employees have been somewhat strained in recent years. Even CEO Doug Steenland admits it.
That can happen when an airline loses billions of dollars, cuts about 20,000 jobs, replaces its union mechanics, lands in bankruptcy and squeezes wages, benefits and other labor costs by $1.4 billion annually.
But as Northwest works its way through its reorganization and nears its targeted labor savings, Steenland is talking up the potential to "repair and renew"company-employee relations.
Eagan-based Northwest has a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to take the airline to "new heights by fundamentally changing the way we interact with one another," he told managers at a company meeting in St. Paul last week.
"The next five years -- and beyond -- will be about respect for one another, listening to one another, openness to new ideas and new ways of doing things, inclusion indecision-making, a shared vision; a shift from 'us versus them' to just 'us,' unchaining the expertise of our co-workers, and recognition and reward for achievement. It's up to us to make those words mean something," Steenland said.
But union leaders say Steenland's words are not matched by actions. Northwest -- and its employees -- don't have any choice but to move toward less adversarial relations, said Charles Craver, a George Washington University law professor who specializes in labor and employment law.
Unhappy employees can make customers unhappy. And Northwest's customers are among the unhappiest in the airline industry.
In the University of Michigan's latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, Northwest ranked last among seven rated carriers.
Union leaders agree that a lot of Northwest employees are not happy with the airline. But they insist the workers continue to do their jobs well.
"Our people love doing their jobs," said Bobby De Pace, head of the airline's ground workers union. "It's management that gets in the way."
De Pace says employees aren't about to forget recent -- and past -- wrongs they feel Northwest did them.
"This is more like a broken branch than an olive branch," De Pace said of Steenland's speech. "Now that our negotiation process is done, they think they can say, 'Let's be friends.' It's not going to happen."
The airline's relations with its flight attendants are especially frosty. They are the one major employee group with which Northwest doesn't have a negotiated -- or imposed -- contract.
"We hope his enthusiasm for building relations with employees will be reflected at the table," said union spokeswoman Karen Schultz. "It has not been shown in the treatment of employees, their families and their communities."
Achieving the type ofmanagement-employee relationship that Steenland envisions is certainly a long shot, said John Budd, a professor of human resources at the University of Minnesota.
"Management is going to have to work very hard to show that it is serious about truly changing its approach," Budd said. "How you do this while simultaneously demanding huge concessions is anyone's guess."
M O R E N E W S F R O M
• Transportation
• Northwest Airlines
• Airlines
• Discuss Airlines
News | Business | Sports | Entertainment | Living | Shop Local | Classifieds | Jobs | Cars | Homes
About DuluthSuperior.com | About the Real Cities Network | Terms of Use & Privacy Statement | About Knight Ridder | Copyright
