Northwest executives get bonuses amid layoffs and losses MINNEAPOLIS (AP) =97 The top two executives of Northwest Airlines got large= =20 increases in their compensation in 2002, angering the union leaders the=20 company is lobbying for wage and work rule concessions. Chief Executive=20 Officer Richard Anderson and President Douglas Steenland took no raise in=20 salary but together saw their compensation climb by more than $2.5 million= =20 through bonuses and stock options that can't be sold for years. Anderson=20 and Steenland each were paid salaries of $500,000 last year, unchanged from= =20 2001. Anderson received a $250,000 bonus in 2002 and no bonus a year=20 earlier. Steenland got a $200,000 bonus last year and no bonus in 2001. The= =20 bulk of the pay for both executives came from options on stock that cannot= =20 be sold for years and would require the shares to rise in value in order=20 for Anderson and Steenland to profit. But Northwest in 2002 made that=20 prospect easier by lowering the price the stock would have to reach in=20 order to exercise the options. The details of executive compensation, revealed in the airline's proxy=20 statement filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, drew= =20 caustic reactions from union leaders representing Northwest employees=20 facing a fresh round of job cuts, wage reductions and benefit concessions.= =20 Many said the rising pay of executives will undermine the call for=20 sacrifice from employees. "To me it's obscene," said Mollie Reiley, trustee= =20 of Local 2000 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing=20 flight attendants. "I thought this was a company in trouble. This is not=20 about we're all in this together. It's about us working to pay them." Other= =20 union leaders echoed the theme. "It's going to be obvious that here we are= =20 a company that's fighting for its life and expecting to have employees pay= =20 their way through while the rich get richer," said Bobby DePace, president= =20 of District 143 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace= Workers. Jim Atkinson, president of the Local 33 of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal= =20 Association, termed the compensation gains of the top officers in=20 Northwest's executive suite "immoral." Gary Helton, interim=20 secretary-treasurer of the Professional Flight Attendants Association,=20 which is seeking to represent Northwest flight attendants, said the=20 executive pay is, "in a word, ludicrous." Northwest's recent announcement=20 of plans to cut 4,900 jobs will bring the airline's worldwide employment to= =20 39,000, down from 53,500 at the end of the year 2000. The carrier had no=20 reaction to the comments of union officials, but spokesman Bill Mellon said= =20 the company's two top officers have taken no salary increase since they=20 assumed their posts in 2001. What's more, he said Northwest's CEO made less= =20 than comparable executives at Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and=20 Alaska Air. Northwest is the nation's fourth-largest carrier. Delta is=20 third-largest and Continental is fifth. Northwest's revenue is nearly four= =20 times that of Alaska Air. "Executive compensation at Northwest is=20 consistently significantly lower than that paid at other major Minnesota=20 companies," Mellon said. Total compensation for Anderson, Northwest CEO,=20 was $2,802,788 for the year ended Dec. 31. His compensation was up 126.3=20 percent from the previous year's total compensation of $1,238,305.=20 Anderson's package included other compensation of $111,638 and restricted=20 stock awards of $1,941,150. During the year Anderson exercised no stock=20 options and was given no new options. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************