Tuesday March 13 9:41 PM ET
Bush Called Ready to Act Against Airline Strikes

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is prepared to act to prevent a strike at any of the major U.S. airlines, the White House said on Tuesday amid controversy over Bush's move to block a strike at Northwest Airlines Corp.

A senior administration official, however, expressed caution over prospects for a settlement in the most pressing dispute, between Northwest and its mechanics union. The official said the bar for a deal appeared high after the company sweetened its proposal just before an impasse in talks was declared on Monday.

Another official, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, told reporters that the president was prepared to act in other disputes if formally given the authority to do so through a
recommendation by federal mediators.

``The president's concern is that the traveling public not be disrupted and that the economy, particularly in this fragile time, not be given any additional setbacks,'' Fleischer said.

An order requested by the National Mediation Board and signed by Bush on Friday prevented a threatened walkout by 10,000 Northwest mechanics, aircraft cleaners and other workers that had been scheduled for Monday.

The order established a three-member Presidential Emergency Board to review the dispute and recommend a settlement. The two sides will meet for the first time with the board next week, the company and the union confirmed.

The union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said the meetings will take place in Philadelphia from March 19 to 22. The company would not confirm the schedule.

Northwest reiterated on Tuesday that it would accept emergency board terms, while union leaders have not made that commitment.

Congress Could Impose Terms

The emergency board has 30 days to recommend a settlement, and the two sides have 30 days after that to consider the proposal.

The mechanics are free to strike after the 60-day period if the board's proposal is unsuccessful, unless Congress steps in to impose a settlement.

The Northwest saga is the most pressing labor dispute affecting America's largest airlines. Talks are at an impasse over wages, back pay and pension benefits.

The mechanics have blasted Bush's intervention, saying that the White House removed any leverage to facilitate a contract in talks that ended early on Monday.

``We blame President Bush,'' AMFA National Director O.V. Delle-Femine said after the talks ended without a deal.

Union supporters picketed the White House for a second straight day on Tuesday to oppose the intervention as a counterproductive, anti-labor move that undermined the bargaining process at other carriers.

``The best thing the president could do is not make any more statements,'' said Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents most pilots at major airlines, including Delta Air Lines, where pilots have threatened to strike.

Woerth spoke to Reuters after testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Northwest Sweetened Offer

The airline said the mechanics rejected a large increase in pay and pensions just before contract talks ended early on Monday and the presidential order took effect.

``We tried to close a deal,'' Northwest spokesman Doug Killian said. ``We made a very generous offer in the final hours and were disappointed AMFA turned it down.''

Killian said the offer included an immediate across-the-board pay increase of 26 percent, up from an 18.7 percent proposal on the table when the final round of talks with federal mediators began last Wednesday.

The highest proposal would pay senior mechanics an average of $33 an hour, not including overtime, compared with the current rate of just over $26.

The union would not confirm the latest company figures or provide ones of its own but said the proposal was not a formal offer.

``We're not making any official comment. We agreed with the company to keep that to ourselves,'' AMFA National Secretary Steve Lanier said.

Asked whether news of the sweetened proposal indicated that there was a high barrier to a settlement, the unnamed senior administration official said, ``It does.''

The mediation board recommended last month that Bush intervene in the Northwest talks after more than four years of negotiations and long periods of mediation failed to reach a deal.

Flight attendants at American Airlines have also threatened to strike. Contract talks between American and its flight attendants and Delta and its pilots are still in mediation.

(Additional reporting by John Crawley)

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