Northwest Can Terminate Contract: Court
Air Transport World | Jul. 03, 2006
A US Bankruptcy Court last week gave Northwest Airlines permission to terminate its labor contract with 9,300 flight attendants and replace it with a tentative concessions agreement reached between the airline and union leaders in March.But the court instituted a 14-day stay on the decision so as to give negotiations for a new agreement more time. Northwest and the flight attendants' union reached a tentative agreement on a contract providing $195 million in annual concessions but the deal was rejected overwhelmingly in a ratification vote last month (ATWOnline, June 7).
The chances of reaching a new accord may hinge on a July 6 vote in which the flight attendants will decide whether to retain the Professional Flight Attendants Assn. as their bargaining representative or replace it with the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA.
Northwest, which already has reached concessions agreements with five other unions, said in a statement that it "bargained in good faith" and made "substantial compromise" to reach the March tentative agreement. It added that it will implement the terms of that accord if a new deal cannot be reached during the two-week negotiating window.