Judge blocks Northwest flight attendants from going on strike

Friday, August 25th 2006, 4:21 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ A federal judge blocked Northwest Airlines flight attendants from going on strike Friday, handing a victory to the airline just hours before a planned walkout that could have devastated the cash-strapped company.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said he will issue an injunction to allow time for him to examine the case. He said Northwest made a ``persuasive case'' that a delay in any strike was necessary so that the legal issues could be resolved.

He said that while the injury to flight attendants would be to delay their ability to strike, ``far greater injuries exist to Northwest and the public by permitting the strike to commence at this point.''

Northwest Airlines Corp., already operating under bankruptcy protection, has said a strike could kill it.

Northwest has about 7,300 active flight attendants. The workers are angry that the company imposed pay cuts and work rules that the rank-and-file had rejected.

Marrero urged the parties to resume negotiations and said he will give them until Wednesday to get back to him as to whether fruitful talks are possible. If not, he said, he will decide the case at a date that was hard to predict ``given the complexity of this matter.''

The case is complicated, involving obscure labor law provisions. A key question, however, is: Can airline employees walk off the job after management unilaterally cut their pay and changed their work rules?

The flight attendants had set 10 p.m. EDT Friday as the deadline to begin walkouts. In preparation, the Association of Flight Attendants said it has held classes to train its members on its ``CHAOS'' strike strategy, to ``create havoc around our system.''

The union has said firing those who strike would be illegal.

Northwest has said it has backup plans in case of a walkout, but officials have not said if they have lined up replacement workers.

Even before Marrero had finished reading his ruling, more than a dozen flight attendants who watched the two-hour proceeding began to file out.

``It stinks,'' said one flight attendant, who identified herself only as Miss Sutphen.

``We were hoping for a better outcome,'' said another.

Flight attendant Lou Rudy asked outside court, ``When does it end? When does the company have to negotiate? Now they can do whatever they want.''

He added: ``We've gone as far as we can go. We have nowhere to go except to use our right to strike.''

Inside court, Northwest lawyer Brian Leitch said the company was ready to negotiate, but that the conditions of employment that were put in place in early August must remain the same.

``Those cows have left the barn,'' he said.

The judge cautioned him that the company will have to be flexible, especially if he or an appeals court rules against it.

``Things have changed,'' the judge warned Leitch.

In response, Leitch seemed to soften his language.

``Whatever meets our objective and the flight attendants' objectives, we're all for that,'' he said.

Outside court, Edward Gilmartin, a lawyer for the flight attendants, said he was not optimistic.

``Nothing has happened to indicate they want to make a deal we'll ratify,'' he said. ``I think they're emboldened now.''

The Association of Flight Attendants said Marrero could make a final decision on an injunction as early as next week.

``Management and the courts can stall us, but they cannot defeat us,'' said Mollie Reiley, interim president of the union's Northwest branch, in a written statement.

She said the union would continue to prepare for job actions.

``Something is terribly wrong when a company that just made a quarterly operating profit of nearly $200 million continues to insist on the same cuts it demanded from flight attendants when it was losing money.''

Northwest issued a statement saying only, ``Our customers can continue to book Northwest with confidence.''