| Northwest Airlines workers strike |
Print this story |
Mechanics, cleaners and janitors at US carrier Northwest Airlines walked off the job today after labour talks failed to produce a deal to help cut costs and avert possible bankruptcy.
The nationwide strike began at 12:01 a.m. today after five months of negotiations, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said in a statement. The walkout at the fourth- biggest U.S. airline means the union’s 4,200 Northwest mechanics, aircraft cleaners and building custodians won’t report for work today, leaving the jobs to be done by replacement staff.
``Our members would rather see Northwest go into bankruptcy than give in to the terms asked of them,’’ spokesman Jim Young said after talks ended yesterday just before a midnight strike deadline in Washington. The walkout is the first at a major U.S. carrier in seven years.
The strike threatens to disrupt about 1,400 daily flights through Northwest’s three biggest airport bases in Detroit, Minneapolis and Memphis, Tennessee. A plan to keep planes flying may cost the airline more than $100 million. St. Paul, Minnesota- based Northwest trained several thousand replacement workers in anticipation of a strike.
"We’re operating our schedule on time," said Andy Roberts, executive vice president of operations at Northwest, in a teleconference. "Our operation is going to run extremely well over the next few weeks and our customers should continue to travel and book with confidence."
The company’s other workers were also on the job, executives said.
The union had threatened to go on strike if management didn’t back off its demands by the time a 30-day cooling-off period expired at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines had all along planned to operate its normal schedule despite its failure to reach a deal at the negotiating table.
"Northwest customers can continue to depend on Northwest for their travel needs," said Chief Executive Doug Steenland. "We intend to operate our normal schedule of domestic and international flights."
|
| Baidu.com, the Wall Street BlockBuster - Aug 7, 2005 5:41 IST |
|
New York(24x7Updates) -- Google’s poor cousin from China has made a spectacular market entry in US with its shares closing at 4 times its intial price of $27.
|
| Delphi digs deep into credit for operations - Aug 6, 2005 17:47 IST |
|
|
Chicago(24x7Updates)-- Delphi Corp., the biggest U.S. supplier of auto parts, said it borrowed $1.5 billion from banks, a day after Chief Executive Officer Steve Miller suggested the company faces bankruptcy unless it cuts costs.
|
| HSBC Buys Metris for $1.6 Billion - Aug 5, 2005 17:24 IST |
|
|
London(24x7Updates) -- British banking giant HSBC Holdings on Thursday said it will snap up Minnetonka-based Metris Cos., one of the last independent credit card issuers, for $1.6 billion in cash.
|
| Adidas to Buy Reebok for $3.8 bn - Aug 3, 2005 18:45 IST |
|
|
Frankfurt(24x7Updates)-- Adidas-Salomon, the world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker, has agreed to buy Reebok International Ltd for about $ 3.8 billion(3.1 billion Euros) in an attempt to catch up with with Nike, the world leader in sportswear and equipment.
|
| Ask Jeeves Launches Advertising Network - Aug 1, 2005 16:56 IST |
|
|
Ask Jeeves Inc. is to unveil a automated paid listing service today called Ask Jeeves Sponsored Listings that allows advertisers to place bids for advertisements on its network.
|
|
|
|
|
