NWA ground workers at MSP walk off the job

[Midnight Mike]

NWA ground workers at MSP walk off the job in the middle of the day, slowing travel Updated: 11/21/2006 10:50:53 PM

Northwest ground handlers walk off the job in the Twin Cities, leaving passengers and their bags delayed. Union members tried to deny that they had walked off the job for a short time Tuesday, and NWA management even backed them up.

But 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS quickly reminded them that we have it all on tape.

At first, we couldn't believe what we were seeing.

Tuesday, promptly at 12 noon, and right in front of our camera, Northwest ground workers stopped working and drove baggage carts, tugs, and anything they had to one spot for a 20-minute rally.

While they were high-tailing it to one side of the airport, planes filled with passengers went nowhere. They couldn't come in, they couldn't go out. No bags were loaded, no bags were unloaded.

Thanksgiving-week travelers were angered by action.
"It is ridiculous, I understand their point, but what are we suppose to do, not get our luggage?" said passenger Julie Stomo, who waited almost an hour.
Passenger Kevin Kelly said he thought it was bad timing.

"There are so many people needing to get to where they are going, they are coming to see family, it really isn't a good time to mess with strikes or corporate issues, I think."
Passengers waiting for bags told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the airline offered no explanation for delays. One ramp worker even denied there was a work stoppage.
"I don't believe anyone walked off the job," he told us. "I don't think there were any disruptions, I didn't see any."
But we did. So what do you call it when workers stop working? The airline's Web site, for example, called it a delay "due to non-scheduled maintenance."

The only thing wrong with flight 123 to Phoenix, was that there was no one to push it back from the gate.
"Ugh, honestly," a frustrated passenger said. "I'll say it is the wrong time of year to do it. What do they want? More money?"

The union leadership said its members are upset because some airplane cleaning jobs are being outsourced.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will watch this situation throughout the holiday season.

[nwafan20]

Illegal job action if I am correct. (In kiddish voice) Someones going to be in trooouuuble!

[hiss srq]

Ignorant morons is what those guys are. Shame on them. Alot of people in our industry are truely brainless with actions or just don't use the grey matter up there for more than somthing to balance the rest of the body off with. You have to think about do the passengers deserve that treatment number one and number two every single time these morons do somthing like that they are just digging the grave thgat much deeper and soon they will have NO paychecks coming in. Selfishness really.

[nwafan20]

Also, if they are unhappy, talk to NW about it, they did this without even talking to NW and from what I know, they didn't even talk to their union.

[cancidas]

shame that managment put thier employees into a position like that!

[nwafan20]

I don't think you can quite blame management for this. They accepted the cuts that management gave them, and in that deal was outsourcing of some cleaning jobs.

[cancidas]

i blame managment for leading the airline to the position where they would have to take cuts from thuer employees... while i don't think that using the paying pax as a pawn in relations between employees and managment it's not right to have to work under those conditions.