07-19-2023By CHRIS WILLIAMS
MINNEAPOLIS - Negotiations between Mesaba Aviation Inc. and its unions were to continue, the company said, despite a bankruptcy court ruling allowing the feeder airline for Northwest to impose pay cuts on its workers.
"We need a consensual agreement for the company to survive," said Tom Wychor, head of the pilots union. He and other union leaders pledged to strike if the airline followed through on its intention to impose terms at 12:01 a.m. Central Time Wednesday.
A full-scale strike could force the already bankrupt airline to liquidate.
Judge Gregory Kishel ruled Monday that Mesaba could throw out its contracts with its 1,140 pilots, mechanics and flight attendants. The unions promised to appeal the ruling.
However, Kishel scheduled a hearing for 1:35 p.m. Tuesday on the airline's request for an injunction against the strike.
Wychor said Monday it would be "a sad day for labor in America" if Kishel ruled against the unions again on Tuesday.
"To have ... the courts strip you of a contract then shackle you to a job at below-market rates is a total travesty of justice," he said.
He said that if the airline gets the injunction, it will have trouble keeping its employees. "I don't think that everyone is going to quit and not have a job tomorrow - some pilots will because they have other opportunities - but everyone is going to be trying to get out of this place."
Michael Meyer, attorney for Mesaba, told the court
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