According to the business agent of IAM Local 776 no further talks are planned. In a letter to the Fort Worth plant's 10,500 employees last week company executives set a deadline of midnight Sunday for approval of its contract offer. The massive defense contractor is proposing a 10 percent increase over three years. Northwest Airlines contract talks break off Contract talks between Northwest Airlines and its flight attendants broke off at the end of last week with no agreement. According to Teamsters Local 2000, which represents the airline's 11,000 flight attendants, the two sides probed a union proposal on pension issues and the National Mediation Board allowed the company to evaluate the proposal.
New talks have yet to be scheduled.
Meanwhile US District Judge Donovan Frank has set hearings for June 16 and 29 to consider a request by Northwest's flight attendants to dismiss a lawsuit the company filed in retaliation for an alleged New Year's sick-out. The lawsuit was held up pending results from the negotiations over a contract that expired four years ago. Judge Frank authorized Northwest to gather information in support of its claims that the union organized an illegal job action. With the tacit approval of the union, management also targeted dissident attendants who sponsored web sites devoted to winning a decent contract. These workers had their computers confiscated and searched for evidence related to the alleged sick-out.