UPDATE–Bush Administration Backs Northwest Against Flight Attendants

by Mike Hall, Aug 25, 2006

Just in. A federal judge ruled this afternoon that Northwest Airlines flight attendants cannot begin their planned series of unannounced strikes against the airline. The judge granted a temporary injunction sought by the Bush administration and Northwest against the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). A final decision may come next week.

Mollie Reiley, president of the Northwest AFA-CWA unit says:

Management and the courts can stall us, but they cannot defeat us. Our crusade to protect our careers has only begun.  We will continue to fight for Northwest flight attendants and all flight attendants who will walk in our footsteps.

The Bush administration is asking a federal judge to take away the right of Northwest Airlines flight attendants to strike the airline after the attendants have twice rejected contracts in which management demanded $195 million in concessions.

Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the airline are seeking to reverse an Aug. 17 decision by the federal court that upheld the right to strike by members of the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). Northwest and the Justice Department appealed the bankruptcy court decision to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A decision is expected later today.

AFA-CWA had planned to implement its CHAOS™ (Create Havoc Around Our System™) strategy of targeted work actions using random, unannounced strikes Aug. 15. But following recent heightened security levels at airports, the union delayed any possible action until tonight.

The rejected deals included cuts of up to 40 percent in pay and changes in work rules, along with the requirement that flight attendants spend 25 percent more time at work than under their previous contract.

Says Danny Campbell, vice president of the Northwest AFA-CWA unit:

The attack on our standard of living combined with taking us away from our families more than ever before was simply unacceptable to our members.

The Bush adminstration’s move to block the right to strike by airline workers is not a new tactic. Early in President Bush’s first term, the administration stepped in to block strikes by Northwest mechanics in March 2001 and American Airlines flight attendants in June of the same year.

 (Visit the AFL-CIO BushWatch site for more Bush outrages against working families.)

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