The labor dispute at Northwest Airlines Corp. shifted into even lower gear on Thursday, as mediated talks stretched on for another day.
Northwest flight attendants have said they're at an impasse and had asked a mediator to release them into a 30-day cooling-off period that could end with a strike. Instead, the federal mediator summoned both sides to Washington this week. Talks were planned to continue through Friday and resume again Oct. 9, said Ricky Thornton, spokesman for the Northwest branch of the Association of Flight Attendants.
He said the talks aren't really negotiations, and that Northwest has made no proposals. He said the mediator is getting caught up on what happened over the summer, when flight attendants switched unions and resisted the airline's demand for concessions in bankruptcy courts instead of mediated negotiations.
'We're not doing negotiations. We're right now positioning ourselves so that the National Mediation Board has a clear picture so they can make an informed decision to declare an impasse, or force us into face-to-face negotiations,' he said.
A Northwest spokesman did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
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