Northwest Airlines:
Federal Judge Protects the Bosses, but Not the Workers

Oct 2, 2006

On September 8, a Federal judge ruled that it is illegal for Northwest Airlines’ 9,000 flight attendants to go on strike.

In making his ruling, the judge declared, “Congress has gone to extraordinary lengths to legislate its view of the vital role that these carriers play for the economy, national security, movement of goods and people, and general well-being of the United States.” He said that a strike at Northwest would stop the transit of more than 100,000 passengers that the airline moves daily, impacting particularly hard on the 23 cities served solely by Northwest, and the 20 cities where Northwest provides 50% or more of the airline service.

Obviously, the role played by Northwest workers is so important to the national interest–shouldn’t the judges be protecting their interests? After all, they do all the work that provides this service. In this capitalist society, however, judges don’t act this way.