NEW YORK (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines (NWAC.O) has told its employees it has exhausted non-labor cost cuts and now must consider modifying union contracts to save more from operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.þþNorthwest, the fourth-largest U.S. airline, said in a special edition of an in-house newspaper mailed last week to its employees that it plans to start meeting with labor leaders to discuss a restructuring of employee costs, according to the Journal. þþThe Air Line Pilots Association agreed to a series of meetings with Northwest management, according to the Journal. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents the flight attendants, is ready to talk about protecting jobs and helping guarantee the long-term survival of Northwest, the article said.þþ``We will not, however, be willing to discuss any proposition that takes more money out of our members' pockets or that will further jeopardize their benefits,'' union leaders said in a letter to members, according to the Journal.þþRichard Anderson, the chief executive, said in the airline's in-house newspaper that UAL Corp.'s (UAL.N) United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. (UAWGQ.OB), through the bankruptcy process, are ``dramatically and permanently'' cutting workers' pay and benefits and will modify union work rules, the Journal said.þþ``In turn, this will require the rest of the airline industry to address costs,'' he said.þþNorthwest was not immediately available for comment early on Wednesday morning. þþ
Source: NY Times
