Unions and Northwest Airlines face a critical week, as the pilots and flight attendants face a Wednesday deadline to reach contract settlements and they -- along with the Machinists union -- conduct strike authorization votes.

Federal bankruptcy judge Allan Gropper on Friday again delayed ruling on Northwest Airline's request to nullify contracts with the Air Line Pilots Association and Professional Flight Attendants Association. The latest delay ? until Wednesday, March 1 ? is the third time Gropper has given the airline and unions more time to build on progress they say they are making toward negotiated agreements.

Though members of both unions currently are taking strike authorization votes, "Our goal has never been to go on strike and shut down Northwest Airlines," said Capt. Mark McClain, chairman of the Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association at Northwest. "Our goal is to get a consensual agreement."

McClain made his remarks Thursday night at a rally for pilots and their families at the Radisson Riverfront hotel in downtown St. Paul. The rally was simulcast to pilots and their families gathered in Detroit, Memphis, Seattle, Atlanta and Anchorage.

"If the judge gives us more time, we'll make good use of it," McClain said before flying to New York, where Gropper granted his latest extension Friday afternoon.

Slow progress
The pilots and Northwest have been negotiating for 45 of the last 47 days, McClain said, so "there ought to be progress." But, he added, "We still have a long way to go."

Negotiators have agreed on a framework to resolve the major dispute of flying regional jets, but details need to be worked out on that and a number of other key issues, he said, including pilots' demands for an equity stake in Northwest when it emerges from bankruptcy.

Pilots deserve an equity stake, McClain said, because "we're being asked to make very large sacrifices."

Northwest wants a combined $807 million in permanent concessions from the pilots and flight attendants, part of its attempt to cut labor costs by 37 percent.

The unions have been fighting the airline's attempts to outsource thousands of their jobs and significantly alter wages, benefits and working conditions for those workers who remain. Pilots already have agreed to 39 percent in temporary pay cuts; flight attendants have agreed to temporary pay cuts of 20.7 percent.

Strike votes taking place
The pilots will announce results of their strike vote Tuesday, Feb. 28, the day before Gropper's extension expires. Ground workers represented by Machinists Air Transport District 143 are voting through March 3 on both a strike authorization question and a contract proposal from Northwest that locks in $190 million in concessions, including the loss of about 2,500 jobs.

The flight attendants? strike authorization vote lasts until March 6. Flight attendant officials could not be reached Friday afternoon for comment on the bankruptcy judge?s extension.

ALPA President Duane Woerth (left) said, "Contract rejection is a mistake they (Northwest) will live to regret." Bob Allison, an Airbus captain at Northwest, was among pilots at Thursday's rally. Union Advocate photos

Right to strike in dispute
If negotiations fail and the bankruptcy judge wipes out the union contracts, that would allow Northwest to impose whatever terms and conditions it wants on its workers. If that happens, the unions say, they have the right to "self help" under the Railway Labor Act.

"Contract rejection is a mistake they'll live to regret," Duane Woerth, international president of ALPA, said at the rally.

A strike has never occurred at an airline under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Northwest says such a strike would be illegal, and vowed to seek an immediate court injunction to block a strike.

The unions disagree. They say that, without a consensual collective bargaining agreement in place, they are entitled to strike or take other job actions. A successful strike could shut down the airline for good, forcing it to liquidate.

'A future worth having'
At the ALPA rally, pilot representatives from Delta and Mesaba, which also are in bankruptcy, and from America West, which survived two bankruptcies, said pilots are fighting for the very life of their profession.

"We want to have a career and a future that's worth having," said Capt. Tom Wychor, chair of ALPA's Master Executive Council at Mesaba, which flies regional service under contract to Northwest.

"Management prefers to dictate and litigate rather than negotiate," said Mike Donatelli, special projects manager for ALPA's Master Executive Council at Delta Airlines. He pointed out that Delta and Northwest filed for bankruptcy one hour apart and one floor apart in the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Sept. 14.

The pilots may work at two companies, he said, but are one union with the same goal: "a fairly negotiated consensual agreement that protects our careers, protects our customers and protects the future of our airline."

Ray Waldron, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, called Northwest "a cold-hearted employer" that needs to realize it's time to reach agreements with its unions. Waldron was one of a dozen Twin Cities labor leaders who spoke briefly at the rally, expressing solidarity. Congresswoman Betty McCollum and state Sen. Sharon Marko also spoke.

Michael Kuchta edits the Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Trades & Labor Assembly. E-mail him at advocate@stpaulunions.org or visit the Assembly's website, www.stpaulunions.org