Minneapolis – Northwest Airlines Corp. and its striking mechanics announced a tentative agreement on Monday that would end the 14-month-old strike but would give few workers their jobs back.
Approval by union members would end a walkout that began in August 2005 but long ago ceased to have any visible impact on the airline, which hired permanent replacements and contractors to replace striking members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association. Northwest said replacement workers would keep their jobs.
If the agreement is accepted, strikers could either resign or shift to layoff status and bid on future openings. Northwest also said it would stop fighting state unemployment claims. In Minnesota, the State Court of Appeals had ruled that striking mechanics were entitled to unemployment benefits.
Roughly 4,400 Northwest mechanics, cleaners and custodians walked out Aug. 20, 2005, rather than accept pay cuts, work rule changes and layoffs. Northwest eventually hired 880 permanent replacements, including union members who crossed the picket line and former Northwest workers who had been furloughed before the strike.
At later negotiations, Northwest’s offers got progressively less favorable for the strikers. In December, striking union members rejected Northwest’s latest offer, at union leaders’ urging.
The tentative agreement announced Monday offered up to 10 weeks of severance pay for those who leave, or up to five weeks for those who switch to layoff status.
