Northwest Airlines gloats over union-busting against striking mechanics

No new negotiations have been scheduled with the union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Organization (AMFA), which represents both mechanics and aircraft cleaners. The position of the company is that it will be able to operate normally without the 4,400 workers on strike. Northwest has begun to implement a plan according to which much of the work carried out by the strikers will be contracted out to other companies at much less cost.

Doug Steenland, the company’s president and CEO, told the Detroit News on Sunday, “Our statistics show we are humming along and operating reliable and dependable and getting out people there on time and on schedule.” On Saturday, he praised the strike plan that the company devised over the course of 18 months, calling it “the most detailed and comprehensive that has ever been put in place under a circumstance like this.”

Steenland has said that some of the mechanics will be given their jobs back if they cross their own picket lines; however they would have to accept conditions worse than any deal the company has already offered. It is likely that most of the company’s 800 aircraft cleaners will never be allowed to return to the company, as they have already been replaced by contract workers.

The media has generally applauded the ability of the airline to continue operations, and Wall Street has also indicated its approval. In spite of the strike, stock analysts have listed the company as a “buy,” and on Monday the company’s share value was up 28 cents, or 5.20 percent.

Nevertheless, there have been reports of higher than normal flight delays and cancellations. Representatives for the union said that the airline will begin to suffer in terms of safety and reliability as the strike wears on.

Northwest owes whatever “success” it has achieved largely to the betrayal carried out by the trade union bureaucracy. The airline has been able to continue its operations only because of decisions by the Air Line Pilots Association and the International Association of Machinists, both member unions of the AFL-CIO, to cross picket lines. The Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA), which like the AMFA is an independent union, has also decided to continue work.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/nwa-a23.shtml