Machinists' members at Northwest Airlines begin voting next week on a contract proposal that eliminates about 18 percent of their jobs and cuts wages by 11.5 percent.

Union leaders make it clear they are not recommending ratification. But they say it should be up to members to decide what's better: To accept the proposal, or to reject it and risk letting bankruptcy judge Allan Gropper give the airline permission to impose any staffing, wages, benefits and working conditions it wants.

"We didn't want to play God," said Bobby DePace, president of IAM Air Transport District 143, which represents the more than 14,000 ground workers.

"If they weren't in bankruptcy, we would never bring this out," he said. "We're not kidding anybody. This is a very difficult situation. There are some things that just rip the heart out of the worker."

In addition to a contract vote, IAM members will vote on strike authorization if the contract is rejected and Gropper abrogates their contract.

Proposal limits outsourcing
The proposed settlement, reached Jan. 13, makes significant improvements in saving jobs, reducing pay cuts and protecting pensions, compared with what Northwest told the bankruptcy court it wanted, DePace said. However, the proposal still provides Northwest $190 million in concessions. A summary:

Jobs
Northwest wanted to outsource all ground jobs at all airports except the Twin Cities and Detroit. The proposal saves 82.3 percent of the Machinists? jobs, and saves jobs that would have been eliminated at 40 airports, DePace said. Depending on how many workers leave voluntarily, he said, the proposal will save about 12,000 jobs while allowing the elimination or outsourcing of as many as 2,500 others.

Severance
Creates "enhanced severance" of up to 20 weeks' pay for workers who voluntarily terminate employment at Northwest to allow a worker with less seniority to keep his or her job.

Wages
Cuts base pay for current workers by 11.5 percent. That means workers' paychecks actually will increase from what they?ve been since November, when the bankruptcy court imposed an 19 percent cut. Because Northwest and the Machinists have been in negotiations for nearly 4 years, members have not had a general pay raise since August 2002. The proposal also eliminates or reduces a number of shift differentials and other premium pay requirements, starts new workers at lower salaries, then extends the number of years it will take those workers to reach top scale.

Part-timers
Gives the airline more flexibility in using part-time employees, including raising the ratio of part-timers to 25-50 percent in some job classifications at some airports, and expanding the number of hours part-timers can work. The proposal also improves part-time benefits.

Health insurance
Establishes a company-wide preferred provider plan. Employees will pay 15 percent of premiums and have higher deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket maximums. Preserves health insurance for retirees, with future retirees paying 35-50 percent of premiums.

Pension
Saves a defined-benefit pension plan by freezing Northwest's current, underfunded plan and shifting future pension coverage to the IAM national plan. Northwest will contribute at least 5 percent of wages to the new plan once it emerges from bankruptcy.

Other benefits
Reduces sick pay but preserves sick pay accruals. Eliminates 3 paid holidays and reduces premium pay for working a holiday. Eliminates 1 week of paid vacation. Establishes a profit-sharing pool.

Machinists' members ? which include baggage handlers, ticket agents and reservations clerks ? will vote in person over the next two to three weeks, DePace said, following informational meetings in each city. If ratified, the contract would last for the entire time Northwest remains in bankruptcy, then 4 additional years. It is dependent on Northwest also achieving the cost savings it says it needs from pilots and flight attendants.

Meanwhile, pilots and flight attendants remain in negotiations with Northwest, trying to reach new contracts of their own.

At the same time, they continue to argue their case before bankruptcy judge Allan Gropper that he should reject Northwest?s request to rip up their contracts, saying the airline is seeking more concessions than it needs to survive bankruptcy. That trial, under Section 1113(c) of the bankruptcy code, is recessed until Jan. 31.

Negotiations are not going well, the unions say, even though they have submitted proposals that they calculate meet the airline?s cost-cutting goals. The airline wants a combined $807 million in permanent concessions from them ? part of a plan to cut overall labor costs by 37 percent. Both unions say the airline continues to insist on outsourcing large chunks of their work and continues to undervalue alternative concessions the unions are suggesting.

"Honestly, it's hard to say what they're looking for," said Karen Schultz, communications officer for the Professional Flight Attendants Association. The pilots say there is a $149 million dispute in how they and the airline value each other's proposals.

Both unions say they are prepared to strike if Gropper lets Northwest nullify their contracts. "We're prepared except for not having the actual strike vote happen," Schultz said. "Based on the feedback we're getting from members, they're ready."

The Air Line Pilots Association is operating strike preparedness centers at Minneapolis-St. Paul and other cities, said Will Holman, spokesman for ALPA's Master Executive Council at Northwest.

"We want to reach a consensual agreement, but we are prepared to strike if forced to," he said. "Northwest management underestimated the will of the pilot group in 1998. It seems that they're once again making the same mistake."

Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@stpaulunions.org