The Nation : Alaska Airlines Struck

Alaska Airlines was struck by 650 mechanics and baggage workers, grounding half of its West Coast flights. The others were kept flying by management personnel. The employees walked off the job at the airline headquarters in Seattle, and at airports in Alaska, Washington and California, minutes after all-night negotiations broke off. No further talks were scheduled. The labor dispute centers on the airline’s desire to implement a secondary pay scale that would start new employees at a lower salary than that for current workers. Meanwhile, Pan American World Airways, its domestic flights grounded on the fifth day of a mechanics’ strike, has laid off 10,000 flight attendants and office workers, officials said.