AMFA Will Support Northwest Flight Attendants in Friday's Court Hearing.

DENVER -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) today announced its support for the Northwest Airlines flight attendants union, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). AMFA said it will file a "friend of the court" legal brief in the federal district court of New York, which has scheduled a hearing on Friday morning, August 25, based on Northwest's appeal of the August 17 bankruptcy court order that the court had no authority to prevent AFA from striking in response to the contract imposed on AFA by Northwest.

The AFA has set Friday at 9:01 p.m. as the strike deadline. Several large airlines and the federal government have filed briefs in support of Northwest, while several unions and the AFL-CIO have filed briefs in support of the AFA and the bankruptcy court's decision. AMFA now joins these unions.

Steve MacFarlane, AMFA assistant national director, said, "AMFA stands with the AFA in this battle. The right to strike in response to brutal imposed terms is vital to all American workers, and taking away this fundamental right would return American workers to nineteenth-century conditions of servitude. In this sense, the AFA's fight is AMFA's too. Our support for AFA is also consistent with AMFA's participation in the broad Labor Coalition at Mesaba that includes aircraft mechanics, pilots and flight attendants."

Mesaba is a 'feeder airline' to Northwest. AMFA is a member of the Labor Coalition at Mesaba Airlines. The Labor Coalition includes AMFA, the AFA, and the Airline Pilots Association. The coalition was created in response to Mesaba's bankruptcy and subsequent threat to unilaterally imposed contracts on all three unions.