Courts to Northwest Airline: 25 Percent Paycuts are a Lockout

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has granted Northwest Airlines mechanics who went on strike last year the right to claim unemployment benefits from the state of Minnesota. While this is really good news for some 1600 mechanics that's not what really drew my attention to this story. What caught my eye was the reason the court made its decision. The court determined that the 25% pay cut that was imposed by Northwest Airlines constituted a lock out. Now that is interesting. Not because it could help the cause of striking mechanics but because of the timing of this ruling in conjunction with an imminent strike by its flight attendants for the same reason, pay cuts.