Pilots at Northwest Airline Table Delay Union Vote
By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Apr. 26–In an about-face, pilot union leaders at Northwest Airlines tabled a vote Tuesday that could have ushered in a regime change for the 12-member master executive council.
At the core of the issue is the worry that division within the group weakens the effectiveness of the Air Line Pilots Association just as its members are deciding whether to vote up or down a tentative agreement that would cut $358 million a year from the total pilot payroll.
If the pilots approve the measure in the vote May 3, they will drop from second-highest paid in the industry to No. 8, according to industry research, including analysis by JP Morgan.
Half of the 12-member master executive committee, including chairman Mark McClain, have publicly encouraged pilots to approve the tentative agreement. The other half, including vice chairman Bill Bartels, have worked to defeat the deal.
“The MEC unanimously decided it was in the best interests of the pilot group to maintain and support its current leadership,” said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Will Holman.
“The Northwest pilot group has faced many challenges during the past few years, and those challenges have produced differences of opinion,” he said. “Democracy is not always pretty.”
The recall issue could be brought back to the table anytime.
The movement to oust McClain — chairman since late 1999 — frames the differences among elected union leaders and the company’s 5,700 pilots in sharp relief.
McClain has supported ratification of the tentative agreement because he has said it was the best deal the union could get with bankrupt Northwest.
Others have said the union gave too much away in the midnight bargaining under a bankruptcy court deadline in March.
“Some in the group want to use this as leverage to go back and get a different deal,” said Darryl Jenkins, professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and aviation consultant to many legacy carriers.
“If there is a recall attempt, that shows strong discontent. This is something you take seriously.”
Wade Blaufuss, union spokesman, said the underlying theme was that the union needed “a change of leadership to break the deadlock.
“People behind the recall said we needed to get leadership in place ahead of the vote to make contingency plans in the event that the TA (tentative agreement) is voted down.”
Those pushing to get McClain out, he said, criticized him for “failing to build consensus” among the 12-member board.
“Their thinking was that we needed a change the sooner the better to start building consensus for whatever happens to the TA.”
If the pilots reject the tentative agreement, most analysts expect the bankruptcy court would allow Northwest to void its contract with the pilots and impose its own terms and conditions, which negotiators predict would be worse than the tentative agreement.
Union spokesmen would not comment on the size of the group working to defeat the tentative agreement, which maintains concessions through 2010.
“I have feeling most rank and file pilots and their families are hoping for short-term pain for long-term gain,” said Henry Harteveldt at Forrester Research.
“They also know that what may have been will probably never be again.”
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