Mesaba asks bankruptcy court to bar strikes

The carrier wants to head off work stoppages in case it is allowed to void its contracts and impose pay cuts.
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
October 03, 2006

Mesaba Airlines urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregory Kishel on Monday to block a strike by its unions, arguing that the carrier would go out of business if pilots, flight attendants and mechanics are allowed to walk off the job.

Mesaba, which is running low on cash, asked Kishel on Friday to give management permission to void its contracts. The airline will make its case for tossing out the contracts at a hearing next week.

But management's move Monday is designed to head off any work stoppage if the carrier ends up voiding its contracts and imposing pay cuts and work-rule changes on its labor unions on Oct. 15.

"A strike by the unions would result in Mesaba's liquidation," the airline said in its filing Monday. "Federal Aviation Administration training requirements make pilots and flight attendants, as a practical matter, irreplaceable on short notice."

The carrier also said mechanics must be licensed to work on Mesaba's fleet and mechanics cannot be replaced with little warning of a work stoppage.

The same right-to-strike issue has surfaced in the conflict between Northwest Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA).

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero approved Northwest's request for a preliminary injunction shortly after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper said he had no legal basis for blocking an attendants strike.

The AFA plans to appeal Marrero's ruling to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kishel, who is presiding over the Mesaba bankruptcy case, will hear arguments in his Minneapolis courtroom.

Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709 • lfedor@startribune.com