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(AP) - A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld an
injunction barring a strike by flight attendants at Northwest
Airlines Corp., which is operating under bankruptcy court
protection.

      The flight attendants had sought the right to strike after
Northwest, with a bankruptcy judge's permission, imposed pay cuts
and other work rule changes as it reorganized. Northwest's other
unions made pay-cut deals, but flight attendants rejected a
negotiated agreement. 

The case put the union and the airline in a
gray area where bankruptcy law and airline labor law intersect.

      "Although this is a complicated case, one feature is simple
enough to describe: Northwest's flight attendants have proven
intransigent in the face of Northwest's manifest need to
reorganize," the judges for the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
in New York City wrote in upholding a strike injunction.

      All three judges on the appeals panel agreed with the result,
although Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote a separate concurring
opinion.

      There's another way flight attendants could still win the right
to strike. They have asked to be released from mediated talks with
Northwest. A release by the National Mediation Board would start a
potential strike process under airline labor law, outside of the
bankruptcy issues at the heart of the case decided Thursday.

      The Association of Flight Attendants said it was reviewing the
51-page ruling.

      "Our right to strike will be restored if or when the courts
lift the injunction, or the NMB releases us from mediation and we
complete a 30-cooling-off period without reaching a new
agreement," the union said in a statement.

      Northwest said it was pleased, and that its "central goal
remains to reach a consensual agreement with our flight
attendants."

Gallery

Northwest flight attendants want out of pay cuts

Northwest, flight attendants to resume talks in Washington

NWA flight attendants try new approach

Judge reaffirms ruling against NWA flight attendants strike

Business and Economic News

Joshua Freed

Author

The flight attendants had sought the right to strike after Northwest, with a bankruptcy judge's permission, imposed pay cuts
and other work rule changes as it reorganized.

Court: Flight attendants at Northwest Airlines may not strike

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