Northwest''s unions scrutinize pilot cost-cutting package
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
Published Mar. 1, 2003 NWA01
A Teamsters official said Friday that Northwest Airlines'' proposal to cut pilot labor costs by 37 percent "kind of takes your breath away."
Mollie Reiley, trustee of Teamsters Local 2000, which represents flight attendants, said, "We are all pretty sobered up by it."
The pilots'' union was the first labor group approached by Northwest management for major wage and benefit concessions, and the company intends to meet with its other unions in coming weeks.
Management''s dramatic proposal, which would reduce pilot labor costs by $2.76 billion over 6 1/2 years, engendered reactions of quiet determination, frustration and outrage by leaders of Northwest''s largest unions.
Representatives from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) were restrained in their assessment of the pilot proposal, which would cut wages by 17.4 percent and increase pilot layoffs by 343.
The company''s sweeping changes "look like normal contract negotiation openers," said AMFA spokesman Jeff Mathews. "Ours were just as ugly" when AMFA negotiated its last contract, he said.
Jim Atkinson, president of AMFA Local 33, said his members don''t believe they are in danger of imminent pay cuts because they have a contract that runs through 2005. AMFA represents about 3,700 mechanics, 260 airplane cleaners and 40 custodians.
"From the information we are getting about Northwest, they are not in dire straits," Atkinson said. The Eagan-based carrier has stronger cash reserves than other airlines, so Atkinson believes it is well-positioned to emerge as a survivor in the financially ailing airline industry.
The Teamsters'' Reiley, who represents about 11,000 flight attendants, said company management should do a better job of connecting with its workers. "I don''t see Northwest doing anything to garner trust from the employees and support other than just putting out cold, dry facts. And unfortunately, some of those we''re not getting," Reiley said.
"If you want people to trust you and believe in you, you need to be forthcoming," she said. The Teamsters have been contacted by management to hear its briefings on Northwest''s financial condition.
The Teamsters contract does not open until June 2005. "We have agreed to listen to what their presentation is. That is all I''m going to commit to at this point," Reiley said.
Bobby DePace, president of District 143 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), said his union is scheduled to meet with Northwest executives in mid-March to hear a financial presentation.
On Tuesday, IAM negotiators began talks with Northwest on a contract that will affect about 17,000 ground workers. "It was very short and abrupt," DePace said, referring to the exchange of opening proposals.
The company is seeking cuts in benefits for IAM workers, but it has not made any wage offers. "I''m not very optimistic," DePace said.
He was incensed by the content of the pilots'' concession package. "Plain and simple, I think it''s absurd," DePace said.
And he wonders what''s in the pipeline for the IAM. "There isn''t anything that we see that could be fair as far as us giving anything back," DePace said. "Is Northwest going to ask our clerical people, who make $10 an hour, for a 17 percent pay cut?"
Curt Kruse, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said Northwest pilots are not prejudging the company request.
"Our pilots are very analytical," he said. "We respond to collective bargaining situations the way we respond to situations in an airplane. We determine what''s really going on and then we implement the best course of action."
-- Liz Fedor is at lfedor@startribune.com.
15 AM Buck wrote:
