[JEP]

No terms imposed yet... Looks like they may actually believe the workers will walk.

Mesaba delays cuts as talks continue
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
Last update: October 26, 2006 – 1:26 AM

Labor negotiations at Mesaba Airlines continued past 1 a.m. this morning as the regional carrier decided not to immediately impose lower pay rates on its three largest unions.

The bankrupt airline had the legal power to reduce wages for its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics as of 12:01 a.m. today.

Mesaba spokeswoman Elizabeth Costello said shortly after midnight that the company would keep bargaining with its three unions in an attempt to cap 10 months of negotiations with concessionary deals.

"Our goal remains consensual agreements," Costello said. "We will be delaying imposition of new contract terms at this time."

The decision to keep talking and refrain from imposed terms was welcomed by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

"This is a positive development and we look forward to the negotiations continuing," Kris Pierson, secretary-treasurer of the Mesaba branch of ALPA, said early this morning.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregory Kishel recently gave Mesaba the authority to void its existing labor contracts and slash labor costs by 17.5 percent. The fact that Mesaba could act on that authority as of this morning sparked the new negotiations with all three unions late Wednesday.

"We have said from the very beginning that this company's survival depends upon a negotiated consensual agreement that can be ratified by our members," said Tom Wychor, the pilots union chairman.

Neither Wychor nor Mesaba spokeswoman Costello would describe the substance of the talks between the pilots and the company, or the interactions with the other two unions.

Later today, Mesaba's union employees and their supporters from Northwest Airlines and other carriers are scheduled to rally in downtown Minneapolis.

They plan to protest Kishel's decision on Monday that blocked a strike by Mesaba employees.

Nick Granath, an attorney for the Mesaba mechanics union, said it is essential for employees to have the ability to strike because it helps to create "a level playing field at the bargaining table."

Carla Rogat, vice president of the Mesaba flight attendants union, said her group entered into the last-ditch negotiations because it's "in everyone's best interest to come up with something."


Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709 • lfedor@startribune.com