Mechanics Cool to Latest NWA Offer

Sept. 8, 2005
Northwest Airlines and its mechanics union got together for talks Thursday, but several strikers on the picket lines scoffed at the airline's latest offer.

Northwest Airlines and its mechanics union got together for talks Thursday, but several strikers on the picket lines here scoffed at the airline's latest offer.

The airline was demanding even steeper cuts than the ones that prompted mechanics to walk out. The airline said rising fuel prices have forced it to ask for even more labor savings.

"I hope they go into bankruptcy _ I've got nothing to lose," said Dave Kowalkowski, a mechanic who has worked for the airline for 26 years. "I'd rather deal with a bankruptcy judge."

David Benedict, who worked as a mechanic for 18 years in Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Atlanta, said he thought the meetings Thursday were just another step toward bankruptcy.

"They're negotiating again, just so they can go to a bankruptcy judge and say, 'We made them a final offer.' So they can save face."

Negotiators for both sides were seen at the hotel in downtown Minneapolis where talks were scheduled to resume at noon, but neither side talked with reporters gathered there.

The strike reached its 20th day on Thursday, and several of the off-the-job mechanics have already started looking for their next job.

David Pounds, a 22-year mechanic, said he was thinking of changing careers, maybe selling cars. He's had job interviews, but hasn't had any offers.

"People are reluctant to hire a guy on strike," he said.

Also, he has had trouble finding a job where the pay matches what he made as a mechanic. Union mechanics made $70,000 a year on average. "The last company I interviewed with, the compensation was a joke," Pounds said.

Northwest's 4,427 mechanics, cleaners and custodians walked out on Aug. 20 rather than accept 25 percent pay cuts and layoffs of some 2,000 workers. The airline has told the union that it would begin hiring permanent replacements by Sept. 13 if they didn't make a deal.

Todd Henshaw, an 18-year mechanic, knows his job would be cut under the company's proposal.

"I already know I'm gone. I'm hoping they will give a living wage to those who are left," he said of the negotiations.

In a letter to the union that was made public on Wednesday, Julie Hagen Showers, Northwest's vice president for labor relations, wrote, "Our last best offer which was presented to you on August 18 was based on economic circumstances that no longer exist today."

She said the company had been prepared to honor that offer, but the company's finances had deteriorated since then and "unfortunately we are no longer able to do so."

The letter repeated the airline's claims that fuel prices are expected to rise to $3.3 billion, up 50 percent from $2.2 billion last year. It said it will probably need labor savings above the $1.1 billion it had previously sought.

Some striking mechanics said Northwest customers should have to carry part of the financial burden of increased fuel prices.

"You can't keep passing it onto your employees," said Steve Alden, a Northwest mechanic for 16 years. "They keep raising gas prices, but people will keep buying gas. People will keep flying."

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Associated Press business writer Joshua Freed contributed to this report.