FLIGHT ATTENDANTS NOT ALLOWED TO STRIKE

Travelpro72

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Jan 30, 2005
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Just read on Yahoo airline news that the judge ruled that NWA flight attendants MAY NOT strike or take job actions, pending a decision on the matter by the bankruptcy court. The ruling prevents the union from disrupting service and removes a potential obstacle preventing NWA from exiting bankruptcy. THIS IS INSANE. Who slept with him or stuffed his pockets Hmmmmm? This effects EVERY worker at EVERY airline. (Tried to edit the topic but couldn't sorry...) but anyway.
 
Just read on Yahoo airline news that the judge ruled that NWA flight attendants MAY NOT strike or take job actions, pending a decision on the matter by the bankruptcy court. The ruling prevents the union from disrupting service and removes a potential obstacle preventing NWA from exiting bankruptcy. THIS IS INSANE. Who slept with him or stuffed his pockets Hmmmmm? This effects EVERY worker at EVERY airline. (Tried to edit the topic but couldn't sorry...) but anyway.

Here is the link to the story: :shock:

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060915/airlines_northwest.html?.v=1

They (NWA F/A's) are now slaves to thier master. NWA should now go ahead and impose another wage cut on them while they are on the ropes. They had their chance to force them to negotiate when The AMFA struck the carrier. <_<
 
Does anyone have a link to the actual text of the ruling?

From the news briefs I've seen this morning, it just says hes thrown it back to the bankruptcy court for a decision.
 
The AFA release is utter bull**it - the judge simply rules that the BK Court does indeed have authority to determine the legality of a strike, and has sent the case back to the BK Judge while maintaining the company's current state of affairs via an injunction until the matter is decided.

Honestly, it's neither a total victory for Northwest (because NWA does not want the matter decided by the BK Court, which is likely to find for self-help rights) nor a defeat for AFA (the uncertainty generated by today's decision might prompt a return to the bargaining table by NWA).
 
From the snippet I read it appears that the judge has ruled that the bankruptcy judge does have the power to decide the issue and kicked the issues back to him. So far, as of this time, there is no ruling evident that states that a strike would be illegal, per se, just that the decision must come from the BK court.

Remember, I am saying this based on a small snippet from what Yahoo reports and have not yet seen the opinion and/or order.
 
OK, my previous was wrong.

The court took the position that despite the BK court's imposition of terms under Sect. 1113, that AFA was not released by the NMB from their Section 6 responsibilities of the RLA.

"Because this Court finds that an order authorizing rejection of a collective bargaining agreement pursuant to §1113 does not terminate the Section 6 process, but instead provides a Congressionally authorized emergency remedy for the debtor that effectively allows it to continue in such process, the parties here remain subject to Section 6 and it would be a violation of the AFA’s § 2 (First) duties to determine on its own initiative that the Section 6 process has ended, and to strike rather than to continue through that process until its exhaustion as declared by the NMB."

So, for the forseeable future there will be no legal labor actions at NW. This decision is going to need to be appealed to an appeals court and that will likely take 1-2 years.
 
More importantly (and the crux of much of the outrage here), the judge has determined that “the specific provisions of the Railway Labor Act take precedence over the more general provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act.â€￾


So, it's back to the bargaining table, which is really where this should have been handled in the first place, and not in a courtroom... (and before anyone assumes it is a slam at the AFA, it's targeted at both sides here. Management needs to negotiate in good faith, and the NMB needs to be the decision maker on when that isn't taking place, not a judge).
 
Luckily the AFA does have 1 more ace up their sleeve. Assuming NW needs outside capital to exit bankruptcy, what prudent investor would infuse money in NW prior to NW having an agreement with the AFA? The RLA still applies, so, at some point, there is going to be a cooling off period followed by a possible strike. I know I wouldn't invest.