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Flight Attendants, Northwest Reach Agreement |
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After a week of intense bargaining, members of the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and Northwest Airlines reached a tentative agreement today (contract details haven’t been released). If members ratify the agreement, the flight attendants would become eligible for a $182 million bankruptcy equity claim that could mean an additional payment of $15,000 to $18,000 each.
The bankruptcy court has ruled that other workers who have contracts with Northwest have a claim against the airline. Because the AFA-CWA does not have a contract, members are not automatically eligible for such an equity claim.
Jay Hong, president of the Northwest Master Executive Council (MEC), said:
A concessionary agreement is never cause to celebrate and is never easy. But this tentative agreement gives our members an opportunity to vote on whether to take the $182 million bankruptcy claim and other improvements before the claim is lost when the airline exits bankruptcy.
Northwest flight attendants had voted down two previous tentative agreements. In June 2006, a federal bankruptcy judge gave Northwest management permission to throw out more than 50 years of collective bargaining and imposed wage and benefit cuts on the flight attendants. This resulted in a 20 percent increase in work hours and a 40 percent reduction to pay, benefits and work rules.
Says Hong:
One thing is certain, we will continue the battle to restore and improve our members’ pay, benefits and working conditions regardless of the outcome of the vote. We will never rest until we have rebuilt what this bankruptcy has destroyed.
The Northwest MEC will consider the agreement today and if it accepts the deal, it would send it to the membership for a vote.
Last week, members of AFA-CWA, Air Line Pilots (ALPA) and the Machinists (IAM) held an informational picket and rally to highlight the need for fair and equitable treatment of Northwest employees. They were protesting management’s decision to reward themselves with nearly $400 million in bonuses after the company emerges from bankruptcy.
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