Baggage handlers for Northwest Airlines Corp. stopped working briefly in its Detroit and Minneapolis hubs on Wednesday in a dispute over who will clean airplanes, a union official said.
The stoppage began around 1 p.m EST and lasted about a half-hour in Minneapolis, said airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. The stoppage took place during a time when few planes were taking off or landing, and no noticeable disruption to airline traffic was caused, Hogan said.
Ken Hooker, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers local that covers Northwest in Minneapolis, said the workers gathered in a ramp area to talk about the dispute over cleaning planes.
He specifically declined to call it a work stoppage -- a phrase that carries legal weight under labor laws -- but he acknowledged that the baggage handlers weren't handling bags.
A phone message left with a Northwest spokesman was not immediately returned.
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