Flight Attendants Veto Northwest Pact

Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants rejected a wage-cutting contract Monday, setting the stage for a possible strike against the troubled air carrier as early as mid-August.

Northwest said it would impose its own terms, and the union responded by threatening job actions that could include random, unannounced strikes.

Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Assn. of Flight Attendants, said the union would give 15 days’ notice before any job action. As of Monday evening it had not given notice, she said.

Northwest has permission from a bankruptcy judge to impose an earlier tentative agreement rejected by 80% of flight attendants in June. It said it was imposing those terms Monday.

The airline has said any strike would be illegal and that it would seek a court order to block one.

If flight attendants walk off the job, it would be Northwest’s second strike in less than a year. Union mechanics struck in August 2005 rather than accept pay cuts. Northwest hired replacement workers and sent the work to outside contractors.

Northwest is the seventh-largest carrier at Los Angeles International Airport in terms of passengers, with 1.1 million boardings in the first half of the year for a market share of 3.7%.

The vote by the flight attendants was 55% against the new contract and 45% in favor.

“This decision is an example of the flight attendants’ determination not to watch their livelihoods be squandered by management,” Caldwell said.

Under the proposed contract, flight attendants faced pay cuts of about 21%.

The union said the reduction amounted to 40% once healthcare costs and other givebacks were factored in.

“Our members have spoken: These drastic cuts to our pay, benefits and work rules are simply unacceptable,” Mollie Reiley, interim president of the union’s Northwest branch, said in a statement.

The union said it hoped that Northwest would negotiate more. But Northwest, which has been seeking worker pay cuts since 2003, said time was up.

Its new agreements with pilots and ground workers cannot take effect until it has a new contract with flight attendants too -- either one that workers approve or one the company imposes on them.

“Notwithstanding the results of the flight attendants’ contract vote, Northwest must continue to move forward with its restructuring efforts,” Mike Becker, senior vice president of human resources and labor relations, said in a statement.

He said the imposed contract would save the airline $195 million -- the same as the two tentative agreements rejected by flight attendants.