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Northwest Airlines to Laid-Off Workers: Eat Trash |
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As ground workers at Northwest Airlines prepare for upcoming layoffs, many are considering career changes. And according to Northwest, some might even look into making a living on the professional dumpster-diving circuit.
No joke. Professional dumpster diving is one of the suggestions the airline offered workers in a special booklet and Web page called “Restructuring Q&A, Employee Support”—all to help workers prepare for the coming hard times, of course.
The booklet, mailed to some workers, includes the tempting section, “101 Ways to Save Money.” But a quick glance shows some of those suggestions are not so mouth-watering:
Don’t be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash.
Move to a less expensive place to live.
Trade down your car for a less expensive one.
Use old newspapers for cat litter.
Cut the kids hair yourself.
Buy spare parts for your car at the junkyard.
Take a shorter shower.
Some 1,000 Machinists (IAM) members—ramp workers, customer service agents and baggage handlers—at nearly 70 airports served by Northwest will lose their jobs this fall as the bankrupt airline begins to slash $195 million a year in labor costs authorized by a federal bankruptcy court.
Says IAM Vice President Robert Roach Jr.:
This is disgraceful that somebody at Northwest Airlines would send this out to a long-term employee facing having no job, telling them to do certain things that are very degrading. This is a reflection of management’s ability at Northwest.
Jackie Diebel, a Northwest employee in Bismarck, N.D., who will lose her job in November, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press she wept when faced with the reality of the situation and the company’s suggestions.
They want us to sell our cars, our houses, go to food banks for food for our families.
Northwest flight attendants have twice rejected drastic cuts in pay and benefits and changes in work rules. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) had planned a series of job actions to protest the company’s contract demands. However, following the recent heightened airline security concerns, the union postponed the planned actions.
But the AFA-CWA had this to say about the company’s money-saving tips for workers, including dumpster diving and selling off houses and cars. On its website, the union asks:
Are they just arrogant or just out of touch? Are they calloused or just stupid? Are they ignorant or uncaring? Maybe they’re all of the above, plus a few adjectives that we can’t print here.
The AFA-CWA also offered some of their own money-saving tips for flight attendants, including:
- Knock on the CEO’s door and ask his wife for a handout.
- Keep a tin cup on the drink cart.
- Stand up and fight for a better contract.
Following the public outcry and media coverage, Northwest pulled the booklet from its website.
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