Oberstar, unions, oppose airline merger

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- Labor unions Wednesday lined up against the proposed Delta-Northwest Airlines merger, sources said.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing 12,500 Northwest customer service personnel and ramp workers, is planning anti-merger rallies, The Detroit Free Press reported.

Their concern is jobs. "There is no way two airlines can get together without job loss," union spokesman Joseph Tiberi told the newspaper.

Northwest's pilots union has also come out in opposition to the merger.

Their beef is that Delta extended its contract with its pilots' union, giving raises in exchange for non-pay concessions in the event of a merger.

"We will be turning our efforts to stopping this merger," Northwest pilots' union leader Dave Stevens said.

An imbalance of unions in the deal "complicates things," said labor expert Gary Chaison.

Eighty percent of Northwest's 34,000 employees are unionized, compared with 17 percent of Delta's 55,000 workers, the report said.

Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., has also said he is opposed to the deal, which could cancel out jobs in his home state.

The deal might also trigger "a cascade of mergers," leaving the country with just three major airlines, Oberstar said,