ATLANTA--Workers at Northwest Airlines are reviewing a proposed contract reached April 9 between union officials and the company, which covers inspectors, mechanics, cleaners, custodians, and other workers at the airline. In preparation for a ratification vote, the union has distributed the 193-page contract to its 9,500 members, who are discussing it on the job, at informational meetings, and on web sites. Mail-in ballots will be counted May 8.
Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) at Northwest voted by a 96 percent margin to strike the carrier on March 12. Three days before that deadline, U.S. president George Bush issued a no-strike order and set up a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) under terms of the antiunion Railway Labor Act.
The PEB gave the government a direct hand in the contract negotiations at Northwest. Although its recommendations are nonbinding, if the company or the union rejects the federal mediators' proposals, the company can lock out the workers, or Congress can impose a settlement. The convoking of a PEB also postpones the workers' right to strike by an additional 60 days.
The response of many workers at Northwest to the intervention from the White House was to continue their contract fight. They have been working under a contract that expired four-and-a-half years ago and haven't had a contractual raise for nine years.
Since the announcement of the tentative agreement, the government has kept the pressure on the union. If the tentative agreement is rejected by AMFA members on May 8, the union will not be able to go on strike on May 11, the original deadline set by the PEB. A PEB recommendation to Bush was due on April 11, but the board requested a delay to May 14, citing the potential contract settlement. U.S. Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also stated that Congress stands ready to intervene and prevent a strike if the tentative agreement fails.
Highlights of the contract include an average wage increase of 24 percent for mechanics and 13 percent for cleaners and custodians and another 10 percent wage increase over the four-year contract. Pension benefits are also increased from $40 to $85 for mechanics and $27 to $51 for cleaners. That rate, multiplied by a worker's years of service, is the pension a retired worker would receive each month.
The proposed agreement includes a "retro bonus" equal to 3.5 percent of workers' wages from October 1996 to May 1, 2001. This adds up to approximately $10,000 for mechanics and $6,000 for cleaners employed during those years.
Northwest's initial proposal was for back pay to be limited to 29 months instead of 56. AMFA had demanded that the initial wage raises be applied retroactively to the October 1996 date of the last contract. The 3.5 percent lump sum is similar to what other unions at Northwest received in contracts signed in 1998. A one-time pay adjustment of $3,750 for mechanics and $1,875 for cleaners will also be paid.
Workers are debating and discussing the contract. "I will definitely be voting yes," stated Terry Samuda, a mechanic at the Northwest maintenance base in Atlanta. "It's a good first contract, and we'll work on the rest next time." Referring to the ground lost by Northwest workers since 1993, the start of a three-year period when the unions accepted deep cuts in wages to help "save" Northwest from bankruptcy, Michael Krieg, a mechanic in Minneapolis, told the Star Tribune "It's really a restoration of things, not a victory."
Contract language on outsourcing is seen as a problem by many workers. Some cleaners have raised objections to the 11 percent gap in the wage increases for mechanics and cleaners, which codifies divisions in the union. Another example cleaners cite is while the tentative agreement provides for higher "skill premiums" for mechanics, cleaners did not win hazard pay for jobs that require working with highly dangerous chemicals such as Dinol, a rust inhibitor, and de-icing fluids.
O.V. Delle-Femine, national director of AMFA, responded to objections by cleaners by stating, "There's some heartburn. It's too bad. They work hard. We couldn't do it without them." AMFA officials are promoting ratification of the tentative agreement.