Feb 13, 2006 7:50 am US/Central
NWA Pilots, Flight Attendants To Begin Voting
by Lisa Kiava
(WCCO)
Northwest Airlines' pilots and flight attendants unions are set to begin voting Monday on whether to authorize a strike.
The airline is hoping a judge will rule the strikes illegal.
Both strike votes are happening while the unions continue to negotiate labor agreements with Northwest.
Union members said they're hoping if they vote to authorize strikes, airline management will have to offer more favorable contracts to pilots and flight attendants.
A hot line telephone message for flight attendants said members will have 21 days to vote to strike the company.
Both pilots and flight attendants will vote via the Internet or telephone. A spokesperson for the pilot's union described the employees' moods.
Alpha spokesman Wade Blaffous said, "Very angry ... they are anxious about the outcome. There's a lot of unknowns."
A federal bankruptcy judge is prepared to make a critical ruling on Friday. Northwest asked the judge to impose its contract on the pilots and flight attendants.
Union leaders have said if the Northwest contract is forced on them, their jobs wouldn't be worth having.
"I'm confident that in the end we're going to have a very high positive yes vote to authorize a strike," Blaffous said.
Pilots have already held informational pickets in recent weeks. If Northwest management and the pilots' union come up with their own agreement before the judge makes a ruling Friday, a real walk-out can be averted.
Some analysts said that scenario is still possible.
Associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Rajesh Aggarwal said, "The pilots and Northwest are fairly far apart at the moment, but I expect they will ultimately reach some sort of agreement."
Flight attendants are also hoping for an agreement before the judge's ruling.
However, the focus of concern is on the pilots. In 1998 when the pilots went on strike, they shut down the airline. Industry experts said if the pilots strike, they could send the airline into liquidation.
Northwest issued a statement Sunday saying it does not believe that the pilot's union has the right to strike and it would seek an injunction to stop them if that happens.
One analyst said Northwest passengers should only fly Northwest if it is most convenient, but he advised against making reservations for flights too far in advance.
However, not all experts agree.
Ultimately, no one can predict exactly what will happen in the coming weeks.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
