NWA workers facing layoffs take offense at money tips that include = Dumpster diving The Pioneer Press, Aug. 16, 2006 As if a pink slip weren't enough, some soon-to-be-laid-off employees = say Northwest Airlines has insulted them by suggesting Dumpster = diving, cheap dates and lowering the heat in their homes this winter = to save money while they're out of work. Northwest earlier this month sent the tips in a handbook to about 50 = ground workers in North Dakota, Bozeman, Mont., and Austin, Texas, = and posted the information on its employee Web site. They are the first of several hundred ground workers who will lose = their jobs as their work is outsourced to third parties under a = concessions pact reached earlier this year. Employee outrage has prompted Northwest to change parts of its = handbook, called "Restructuring Q&A and Employee Support," and remove = a list of 101 money-saving tips from its employee Web site. "We do realize that some of the information in there might be a bit = insincere and, for that, we do apologize," spokesman Roman Blahoski = said. "There are some tips in there that are very useful and there = are some tips that, looking back, were a bit insensitive." It was the book's list of 101 money-saving ideas that some workers = and their union, the International Association of Machinists, say = went too far. "Don't be shy about pulling something you like out of = the trash," suggested one tip. "I realize that some person probably thought they were doing a world = of good," said Bryan Dalzell, a Northwest customer service agent for = 27 years and a union steward in Bismarck, N.D. "It came across to us, = after losing our jobs after a lifetime of work, as patronizing and = rather insulting." Northwest said an outside company assembled the information. NEAS, the Waukesha, Wis.-based employee-assistance company whose name = is in the handbook, declined to comment. The book offers advice on coping with job loss =97 from information = about financial counseling to tips on how to stay healthy. It also = included an advertisement for Coldwell Banker to help sell a house. = The money-saving tips included using old newspapers for cat litter, = asking friends and family for hand-me-down clothes and asking a = doctor for free prescription drug samples. "How condescending to tell people to move to a cheaper place to live = and if you go on a date to take a walk in the woods. Give me a = break," said Bobby De Pace, president of Northwest's ground workers = union. "This is one of the worst things about how they treat their = employees in the worst of times." Jackie Diebel, a Northwest employee in Bismarck who will lose her job = in November, said she wept when faced with the reality of the = situation and the company's suggestions. "They want us to sell our = cars, our houses, go to food banks for food for our families," she = said. The IAM represents some 14,000 Northwest baggage handlers, ticket = agents and other ground workers nationwide. The layoffs are part of a labor contract ratified in June that also = cut the wages of the remaining ground workers by 11.5 percent. The = agreement saves Northwest, which is in bankruptcy, $190 million in = annual labor costs. The best slide auction on the net: http://www.auctiontransportation.com/sites/psa188/