Some ground workers at Northwest Airlines rejected a tentative agreement and authorized a strike, the union said on Tuesday, a move expected to force the carrier back to the bargaining table.
Workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers issued a split decision. About 7,600 clerical, office, fleet and passenger service workers approved their tentative agreement. But 5,600 equipment service and stock clerks voted it down.
"The anger and frustration among all employee groups at Northwest Airlines was evident throughout the voting process," said District 143 President Bobby De Pace. "In the end, Northwest management failed to convince a majority of the work force that the proposal was appropriate or that they could be trusted to honor their commitments."
An airline spokesman did not have an immediate response to the vote.
Voting on the tentative agreement wrapped up on Monday. The union's 14,000 members cast paper ballots that had to be counted by hand.
Northwest, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, has been pushing for permanent pay cuts and rule changes for its workers. The IAM was the first of the large unions to agree.
In January, the IAM announced members would vote on accepting an 11.5 percent pay cut as well as rules that would allow Northwest to use more part-time workers. The agreement scaled back Northwest's outsourcing proposals, and shifted the airline's pension plan for IAM workers to the union's plan.
Union leaders said the IAM saved 649 of 733 jobs that Northwest had wanted to outsource, and kept 82 percent of its jobs overall.
Flight attendants and pilots made deals on March 1 and 3. Those have yet to be ratified by members. Both have authorized strikes if the tentative agreements are not ratified.
Separately, Northwest Airlines sought approval in a New York bankruptcy court Tuesday to pay fees for attorneys, bankers and consultants involved in its bankruptcy case.
Judge Allan Gropper said he would hold back 20 percent of the fees until a future date, drawing protests from attorneys at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft which billed the bankrupt airline $6.4 million for 15,347.4 hours of work.
The carrier was also given until May 1 to provide extensive details of its assets and liabilities. Northwest had asked to be given until June 1 to do so.
The carrier, based in Eagan, Minn., has said it was driven to bankruptcy because of rising fuel costs and increased competition from low cost carriers. It has sought $1.4 billion in annual savings from its labor unions.
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