Obviously, we would have like their support. Once Northwest is done with us they're going to go after them.
Negotiations have concluded for the evening. At this point it is unclear whether additional meetings are scheduled.
If we hold the line, Northwest will have to come back to the table and provide a contract that is acceptable to our members.
If they can find mechanics willing to work under the terms that Northwest wanted to pay, more power to them. We refuse to work under those conditions and we are prepared to walk away and start our lives somewhere else.
Mike Hurley has betrayed his union brothers and sisters. Mike now has to live with the fact that his co-workers will forever view him as a scab.
If all sides are serious about getting this done before the deadline, I think it can be done.
Our members know that working for Northwest Airlines, they have to have a strike fund.
Our negotiations with Northwest Airlines have ended and a tentative agreement has not been reached.
I think it would be a miracle for us to reach an agreement during this round of bargaining.
We hit their target of $176 million, and again, Northwest, they do not want to acknowledge any credit for lost jobs.
There have been times I think when Dell may have been the only guy out there that really still believed it could happen.
What really matters is whether the other unions at Northwest will support us. And that remains to be seen. At this stage of the game it's pretty standard for everyone to remain silent and see if a strike occurs.
Either way we lose. So we might as well take the strike and attempt to apply some leverage to Northwest and convince them that they really can't do it without us.
It would have to be a significant shift from where they've dug in so far. If they're not interested in talking, our guys may leave.
While we aren't looking forward to bankruptcy, we don't think it puts us in any worse shape than we are today.
We all know that at some point an agreement must be reached. We also know that any tentative agreement is going to be extreme by any measure.
Northwest has guaranteed a strike because their proposal is so extreme.
Northwest is doing absolutely nothing to indicate they want an agreement.
As opposed to their old last, best offer. Until you hear the word final, it really doesn't mean much.
Our evidence is that Northwest is having a great deal of trouble keeping their operation running.
The only threat that the replacement worker would have is if we intended to come back. At this stage of the game, Northwest was getting rid of us anyway.
This evening Northwest Airlines proposed what they term as their last best offer. This offer reflects Northwest Airlines' consistent extreme position and leaves us with little hope of reaching a deal before tomorrow evening's strike deadline.
This is going to take some time. We never thought there was going to be an instantaneous effect from us walking off the job.
I'm certain that (the mechanics union negotiating committee) will reject it if we haven't (already) because it falls well short of what we need. They have failed to even start addressing some of our needs.
I'm absolutely convinced that the proposal that they made last night moved inches, where yards need to be advanced.
Their first proposal was bad; their second was horrendous.
Clearly Northwest Airlines would prefer a strike over an agreement, and it looks like they're probably going to get their wish.
Clearly, they know what they're doing is wrong. If we challenge them in that situation, often they'll leave.
As airplanes break through the normal flight day, these airplanes need to get fixed. And if these guys can't fix them they get set off to the side. We're confident that over a period of time it begins to snowball, and they're going to have a real problem maintaining their schedule.
