REMEMBER WHEN?
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Airlines turn to the courts to prevent work slowdowns
Restraining orders seen as revenue savers
DETROIT -- Work slowdowns by disgruntled airline employees has led to thousands of cancelled or delayed flights in recent weeks, prompting the airlines to resort to the federal courts for relief through hefty fines of often cash-strapped unions.
With the busy Christmas holiday travel period rapidly approaching, the airlines are determined to prevent serious work slowdowns or other job actions by pilots and mechanics that threaten to disrupt air traffic.
As an added precaution, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines have cut the number of daily flights to ensure there are enough mechanics available to handle routine aircraft maintenance in the coming weeks.
At least three major airlines in the past month -- Northwest, United and Delta Air Lines -- have gone to federal court seeking restraining orders to prohibit employees from conducting work slowdowns.
In at least two of the cases, federal judges are considering monetary damages against the unions for violating restraining orders that could reach millions of dollars. The unions complain that fines could cloud their financial future.
"It''s shocking how many airlines are doing this now," said Steven MacFarlane, president of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33 in Bloomington, Minn. The local represents Northwest mechanics as they try to win a new contract with the airline.
"The airlines running off to federal court has become a normal process for them," he said. "These airlines are threatening to bankrupt the unions. That''s what AMFA is facing today. We''re defenseless against these companies."
In the case of Northwest and the AMFA union, the airline has complained to a federal judge in Minneapolis that they have been forced to cancel hundreds of flights because of needless delays brought on by a work slowdown or employees refusing overtime. He issued a restraining order against the union.
The air carrier, which handles 75 percent of the passenger traffic at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, also has asked the judge to levy $20 million in damages. The union has less than $500,000 in its treasury.
The new tactic to seek court intervention with damages became the norm about a year ago when a federal judge in Dallas assessed a $45.5-million fine against the American Airlines pilot''s union for violating an order not to call in sick to protest the airline''s purchase of Reno Air.
American was forced to cancel 6,600 flights, which cost the carrier $250 million. The pilot''s union, the Allied Pilots Association, lost an appeal of the fine.
That was a signal to other air carriers that the federal courts might offer a temporary remedy to job actions by upset workers.
"Employers are always reluctant to go to court to solve their labor problems, but in the airline industry you now are seeing a new wave of an aggressive approach by using the courts," said Robert P. Hunter, director of labor policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland and a National Labor Relations Board member from 1981-85. "Before the American Airlines case, the unions had all the clout. This has leveled the playing field."
In the past, air carriers have been frustrated with job actions which caused last-minute delays and flight cancellations. Stranded customers, their travel plans in array, often blamed the airlines, creating a public relations nightmare that can take months or years to overcome.
But even more important, the airlines have had to absorb mounting losses when flights were cancelled.
"The airlines are more willing to go to court today because they are dealing with a very perishable good," said Richard Block, professor at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University. "If that plane doesn''t fly, you can''t recoup the monetary losses. You can''t stockpile flights for later use. None of those seats will ever be sold again."
Frustration and demands
Airline industry experts say the bargaining system is partly to blame for the frustration faced by many workers.
The industry is covered by the federal Railway Labor Act which mandates federal mediation before an airline union can call a strike. The unions can''t walk out until the mediator declares an impasse and a 30-day cooling off period expires.
In many cases, federal mediators are reluctant to declare an impasse because they don''t want to disrupt the U.S. transportation system with a strike.
This has frustrated unions who in some cases have gone four or five years without a pay raise. In the Northwest mechanics'' case, their last contract ended in 1996, but noneconomic terms of the contract continue during the negotiating process.
But that''s not the only problem. Some unions are making demands judged to be so far off the board mediators are sending them home until they come up with less lofty revisions.
"If the workers are frustrated, they ought to show some of that frustration to their own union leadership," said Jerry Glass, who owns a labor relations consulting firm in Washington that specializes in the airline industry. "Some of these unions are making outrageous demands. They have to be reasonable if they want an agreement."
Glass was referring to proposals such as the one offered by the mechanics'' union at Northwest.
According to a letter sent to Northwest employees by Richard H. Anderson, executive vice-president of the airline, the mechanics'' union proposal would mean financial losses for the carrier for years to come.
The last proposal calls for an immediate 114-percent raise, a 150-percent boost in pension benefits and retroactive pay that would exceed $200,000 per employee.
Anderson said the package would cost Northwest $3.3 billion the first year and $5.7 billion over three years. In Northwest''s best year, the company profits totalled less than $600 million. Profits in 1999 were $300 million.
The federal mediator suspended negotiations and told the mechanics union to notify the board when they had a realistic proposal.
Restarting talks
MacFarlane, the mechanics'' union president, said he understands the proposal is out of reach.
"We have plenty of room to move," MacFarlane said. "But when the mediation board called off talks, it completely deflated everyone''s hopes of getting this done -- at least this year.
"Our members are frustrated, so they are turning down overtime. At the same time, we''re losing credibility with our members."
MacFarlane said his union is ready to move at the bargaining table, but apparently he hasn''t notified the mediation board because no new talks have been scheduled.
"We realize we''re going to have to significantly whittle away at our opening position," MacFarlane said. "We are prepared to do that today. Any time you go into negotiations, you always start high so you can work your way low. That''s what we''ve done."
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Minneapolis will hold a hearing on Wednesday to consider assessing damages against the union.
"A multi-million dollar fine could put us out of business," MacFarlane said.
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The date, was December, 2000
