[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9853-S9854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             NORTHWEST AIRLINES JET SERVICE IN NORTH DAKOTA

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, last Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m., labor 
negotiations between Northwest Airlines and its pilots broke down. 
There was a labor strike and, therefore, a shutdown of Northwest 
operations. The result of that shutdown of operations means that all 
jet airplane service to North Dakota is gone. The shutdown has a 
substantial impact on our entire region of the country, but on our 
State it has a profound impact because all jet service is now gone. 
There is not one jet flying in or out of North Dakota.
  I have talked to President Clinton. I have talked to Secretary of 
Transportation Slater. I have talked to Northwest Airlines and I have 
talked to the pilots.
  It is clear to me that this labor dispute is not going to be settled 
in the coming hours. We have waited now for several days following the 
shutdown, during which the Transportation Secretary called the parties 
together. But even from that, there is not a negotiation ongoing. None 
is scheduled tomorrow, and none is scheduled the next day, as I 
understand it. It is now clear to me this will not be settled quickly 
unless the President invokes his emergency powers.
  This dispute is about corporate profits and pilots' paychecks, and 
they have every right to have a dispute about that. But no one has a 
right to visit on our State the burden and the devastating consequences 
that occur when an essential part of our transportation system is 
withdrawn, when all jet service is withdrawn, and that is what has 
happened in North Dakota.
  Today, my colleagues, Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy, and I 
have asked President Clinton to appoint a Presidential emergency board, 
and to call the parties back to work to restore service to our State. 
During the 60-day period, we want the President to help resolve a 
settlement in this dispute and to end this shutdown. We don't do this 
lightly. We understand that this is an important step.
  I don't know who is at fault, but I know who is hurt. In a State like 
ours, where all jet airplane service is gone, there are devastating 
consequences. Because the airline industry has now retreated into 
regional monopolies, a shutdown of service or a labor strike causes 
devastation to certain regions of the country. This can no longer be 
business as usual. We must ask this President to invoke his emergency 
powers and get airline service restored to our region of the country.
  Mr. President, one final point. We also ask that the regional carrier 
in North Dakota that has also discontinued service, Mesaba Airlines, of 
which Northwest is a minority shareholder, restore its service to our 
State as well. We are preparing a request to the president of Mesaba 
and to Northwest to do that.
  This is a very difficult step for me and my colleagues to take, but 
we have no choice. We cannot allow day after day after day to go by 
with our State suffering the impact and the burden of a dispute that 
has resulted in the discontinuation of all jet service in North Dakota. 
It is unfair to the citizens of North Dakota and our region, and I want 
the President to put a stop to it and restore air service in our region 
immediately.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the senior Senator from 
North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, today we have asked the President of the United States 
to intervene to bring the parties back to work at Northwest Airlines, 
to get the planes flying, and to do it before Labor Day.
  We had hoped that the two parties would reach agreement on their own. 
This is a dispute between private parties, but it has a distinctly 
public result, because all jet service is shut off from North Dakota.
  We had asked the Secretary of Transportation to bring the two sides 
back

[[Page S9854]]

together. He did that yesterday. I have now had a chance to talk to the 
Secretary at some length. I have had a chance to talk to the two sides, 
and it is very clear to me, although the Secretary, I think, did the 
very best job possible in the circumstances, that the two sides have 
not resumed negotiations today, and they have no plan to resume 
negotiations tomorrow. In fact, they have no plan to get back together 
until Saturday. That is too long. That is unacceptable.
  We need the two parties to resolve this matter and to do it promptly 
so that the public trust can be restored, so the public can move, so 
the blood supply that comes into the biggest hospital in our State can 
move, can be supplied, so that key parts that are needed for important 
plants in North Dakota can come in by air, and so that our own 
traveling public can move.
  It is not too much to ask these parties to immediately go back to the 
table and to resolve their differences. Given the continuing impasse, 
we believe it is imperative that the White House acts, and acts 
promptly. That is what has triggered our request today to the President 
to invoke his emergency powers and bring the parties back to work, to 
get this airline up and operating again.
  I hope the President will be listening closely to our plea to get the 
relief that our State so desperately needs. I thank the Chair and yield 
the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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