Northwest and Pilots to Resume Talks Today

Northwest Airlines Corp. and the union representing its 6,200 striking pilots are set to resume “exploratory” talks today to try to end a crippling 11-day strike at the fourth-biggest U.S. airline.

Labor Secretary Alexis Herman said in an interview on NBC’s “Today Show” on Monday that she was encouraged after discussions over the weekend in Chicago.

“We’re hopeful they’ll get back to the bargaining table and settle their differences,” she said.

At the weekend meeting, labor and management met alone and with federal mediators, who shuttled between conference rooms to determine if formal negotiations could resume.

The National Mediation Board did not indicate whether there would be a direct meeting between the two sides at the talks in Minneapolis today.

Meanwhile, Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) spoke with President Clinton Monday night in a 10-minute conference call.

“I think he indicated that he’s increasingly concerned that this may drag on, and he indicated he is going to send a high-level representative [to the talks],” Conrad said in a phone interview from Washington. “We told him this is an urgent matter for our state.”

North Dakota relies heavily on Northwest for air travel.

About 27,700 of the Minneapolis-based carrier’s 50,000 employees have been put on temporary leave since the strike began Aug. 28.

Northwest pilots took to Detroit’s streets Monday with laid-off co-workers in a Labor Day parade.

The airline has canceled all flights through Thursday and all incoming flights from Europe and Asia through Saturday.

Meanwhile, talks between Air Canada and its striking pilots were set to resume today in Montreal.