Union: Northwest wants to cut another 1,000 jobs MINNEAPOLIS (AP) =97 Northwest Airlines wants to eliminate another 1,000= jobs=20 held by mechanics, custodians and cleaners and reduce the pay significantly= =20 for those who remain, an airline union said Monday. Jeff Mathews, contract= =20 coordinator for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, called=20 Northwest's proposal "shocking" and "unjustified." The plan would cut the=20 base pay of mechanics by 16.7% and the base pay of cleaners and custodians= =20 by 10.6%, the union said. AMFA's current contract runs through May 2005,=20 and the Northwest proposal would abolish a 4% pay increase scheduled to=20 take effect in May 2004. Last month, CEO Richard Anderson said the company would cut 4,900 jobs in=20 response to a drop in passengers related to the war in Iraq. Then the=20 company said it would cut 2,000 mechanic jobs.On Monday, union officials=20 said Northwest proposes to eliminate another 900 mechanic jobs and 100=20 cleaner positions through attrition and layoffs. The airline wants to trim= =20 $173 million in yearly labor costs for the AMFA-represented groups, the=20 union said. Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon did not comment on the details as described= =20 by the union. He said the company's goal is "to convey to each of the=20 unions changes that we feel are necessary for the long-term viability of=20 Northwest." Northwest lost about $1.2 billion during the past two years,=20 and the airline will release its first-quarter loss on Wednesday. During=20 the first quarter, passenger traffic has been hurt by the war in Iraq and=20 concerns over the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Eagan,=20 Minn.-based Northwest began meeting with its labor unions in late February= =20 to seek major cuts in its labor costs. Besides the job and pay cuts, AMFA=20 said Northwest wants to increase the amount of work it outsources. Under=20 current contract, the company can contract only 38% of its maintenance work= =20 to outside vendors. The company proposal calls for raising that amount to= 48%. *************************************************** 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.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************