Airline Union Supporters Denied Access to IBEW Local 58 Union Hall

Union Chief at Northwest Picket Line

The national director of the mechanics' union at Northwest Airlines has tried to rally his striking troops, amid signs of discontent among pickets and with no end in sight to a 10-day walkout.

The unannounced visit here on Monday by O.V. Delle-Femine, who heads the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, was part of a morale-boosting trip he is making to airports across the country this week. He insisted that workers' spirits remained high, even though no talks with the airline have been held since the walkout began on Aug. 20. "The guys are here for the long haul," Delle- Femine said, a picket sign in his hand.

About 4,430 mechanics and other employees represented by the union struck Northwest over the airline's demand for $176 million in wage and benefit cuts and the elimination of 2,000 jobs.

Northwest, which is based in Eagan, Minnesota, is operating with 1,900 substitutes, including temporary replacement workers, supervisors and contractors. Other airline employees, including pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers, are not honoring the picket lines.

Although the 40-year-old union prides itself on encouraging input from its members, its leaders decided not to take Northwest's last offer to members for a vote. Delle-Femine has defended that decision, pointing out that workers voted 93 percent in favor of a strike in July and calling the airline's final offer "unworthy."

But workers on the picket lines are not receiving strike pay, and their health care coverage from the airline runs out on Thursday. Some are looking for new jobs, unable to get by without a paycheck.

AMFA, which is not a member of the AFL-CIO labor federation, is feeling hostility from other unions. In Detroit on Saturday, the mechanics' union had to find a new location for a fund-raising dinner after a local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers withdrew its invitation to let the union use its hall.

AMFA officials contended that the AFL-CIO and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had pressured the electricians' union into rescinding the invitation. The mechanics voted in 1998 to leave the machinists' union and join AMFA instead. But officials at the electricians' union, the AFL-CIO and the machinists' union said on Monday that they were not aware of any dispute.

Delle-Femine said he was not letting the lack of support from other unions bother him. "That's normal," he said. "They're going to see that we're strong, and we're going to hang in there."

Although no talks are scheduled with the mechanics, Northwest was set to resume discussions Tuesday with the Professional Flight Attendants Association. It is also holding negotiations with the machinists' union, which includes baggage handlers, customer service agents, reservations clerks and some ground crew workers. The National Mediation Board is overseeing both sets of talks.

Northwest is seeking a total of $1.1 billion in cuts from its unions, saying it could be forced to seek bankruptcy-court protection without them.
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Published: 2005/08/31 12:00:51 CDT

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