Pilots, Flight Attendants and Mechanics Present Joint Proposal
to Management
Labor unions
representing pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics at bankrupt
Mesaba Airlines tell ANN that they have presented airline
management with an unprecedented joint offer to save their airline,
their jobs, and their contracts.
"Mesaba has over sixty years of pride as a 'Hometown Airline,'
with great people, great service, and an impeccable safety and
performance record. By attacking labor, and using the court system
to impose unnecessarily severe cuts in wages and benefits,
management is destroying Mesaba," states Capt. Tom Wychor, chairman
of the Mesaba unit of the Air Line Pilots Association,
International.
"The employees built this airline, and we are doing our best to
save it."
The Mesaba Labor
Coalition claims to have offered offered wage, work rule and
benefit concessions that will cut labor costs by 15% for the next
three years. Because airline contracts do not terminate, the
savings will continue well beyond that term. If Mesaba agrees to
the proposal, the unions would begin a ratification process
immediately.
Mesaba will not only be able to reorganize and exit successfully
from bankruptcy with the level of cuts offered by the unions, but
it would also achieve profit margins that substantially exceed
those of previous years. Mesaba proposes to cut labor costs so that
it can achieve an 8% profit margin. The coalition plan will enable
Mesaba to produce at least a 6% margin. In recent years, profit
margins have dwindled to just 2-3%.
"We are not talking about the difference between Mesaba being in
the red or the black anymore," said Nathan Winch, a mechanic and
Mesaba Airline Representative for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal
Association. "The Coalition's proposal guarantees that labor is
giving enough to make Mesaba profitable. We say a 6% profit margin
is sufficient, and if management is going to liquidate over another
point or two on the margin, there is nothing we can do."
If Mesaba elects to throw out the labor contracts, the unions
say that they intend to strike, which would end service to cities
that rely on Mesaba as their only airline transportation. The
unions may strike when Mesaba stops adhering to the terms of their
contracts. In the wake of Mesaba's announcement that it intends to
impose new terms on October 15, the unions strongly urge the
traveling public to take steps to avoid travel on Northwest Airlink
on and after that date.
"Going on strike is the last resort," said Tim Evenson,
President of the Association of Flight Attendants unit at Mesaba,
"because we would rather provide the same exceptional service that
Mesaba is known for day in and day out. But, we will not work for
wages that qualify our members for food stamps. Mesaba should not
be permitted to exploit the bankruptcy process to require the
government to supplement our earnings. No citizen of this country
should have to bear that burden, especially while our holding
company harbors millions of dollars in profits earned by Mesaba in
previous years."