Northwest flight attendants drop Teamsters
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) =97 Flight attendants at Northwest Airlines dumped the=20
Teamsters as their union, switching their allegiance to the upstart=20
Professional Flight Attendants Association, according to votes counted=20
Thursday. The National Mediation Board certified the PFAA as the new=20
collective bargaining representative for the approximately 11,000 flight=20
attendants at Eagan-based Northwest, including about 1,900 on furlough.=20
"The defeat of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who had been=20
their union for 26 years, is another blow to the already weakened IBT,"=20
PFAA leaders said in a statement. The International Brotherhood of=20
Teamsters in Washington and Mollie Reilley, trustee of Teamsters Local=20
2000, which represented the Northwest flight attendants, expressed=20
disappointment with the 4,857-to-3,916 vote. "We wish you all well in the=20
challenging days ahead," Reilley said in a hot line message.
The new union takes over Friday. PFAA will be negotiating with an airline=20
that has lost $1.6 billion since early 2001 due to the slow economy, the=20
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a drop-off in business travel, increased=20
competition from low-fare carriers and the SARS crisis. Northwest is=20
seeking nearly $1 billion in annual cuts over 6{ years from all its unions=
=20
and has proposed cutting total flight attendant compensation by $134=20
million a year. Organizers began their drive in earnest to leave the 1.4=20
million member Teamsters last June. Two weeks later, Teamsters President=20
James P. Hoffa removed Local 2000's elected officers, claiming they failed=
=20
to aggressively fight back. Those officers later backed PFAA. Gary Helton,=
=20
interim secretary-treasurer of PFAA, said the flight attendants had "a=20
myriad of reasons" for voting out the Teamsters, but the most important was=
=20
that they lacked a say in the day-to-day running of their union. "The=20
mantra we've been hearing is 'Free at last,'" Helton said.
Bret Caldwell, spokesman for the IBT, wasn't certain if the Teamsters would=
=20
pursue any legal challenges. But he said PFAA will have a hard time proving=
=20
itself. "These flight attendants face many, many, many difficulties in the=
=20
coming years. ... Without a strong representative like the Teamsters Union=
=20
it's going to be a difficult time, but we certainly wish them the best,"=20
Caldwell said. John Budd, professor of industrial relations at the Carlson=
=20
School of Management at the University of Minnesota, said he was mildly=20
surprised that the flight attendants turned away from the "safe choice" of=
=20
the bigger and more experienced Teamsters. But from management's=20
perspective =97 and on the question of concessions =97 the election outcome=
=20
probably doesn't matter, Budd said. Whoever won would have gone to=20
Northwest with the attitude that they needed to demonstrate to their=20
supporters that they made the right decision, and that they need to win=20
over those who voted the other way, he said.
This is the second time a Northwest bargaining unit has broken away from a=
=20
big national union and formed an independent craft union not affiliated=20
with the AFL-CIO. Northwest mechanics, cleaners and custodians voted to=20
leave the Machinists in 1999 and affiliate with the Aircraft Mechanics=20
Fraternal Association. Budd said the two votes show the tension in the=20
labor movement between centralized power versus local, democratic control.=
=20
And he said they send "a wake-up call" to the rest of the labor movement=20
that national unions need to become more responsive. Northwest has said=20
little publicly about the disputes between the unions. "We respect the=20
choice made by our flight attendants and look forward to working with the=20
chosen representative of our flight attendants," Northwest spokeswoman Mary=
=20
Stanik said.
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