A bankruptcy judge handed a major victory to Northwest Airlines on Thursday, ruling that the company could discard their union contract if negotiations are not resolved within the next two weeks. While the judge only gave the airline the right to impose the most recent terms the union rejected ? which are not the harshest terms the airline has offered since it declared bankruptcy in September ? the union still reserves the right to strike if the contract is set aside.
See "Judge to Let Northwest Reject Contract", Joshua Freed and Bree Fowler, Forbes.com, June 29, 2006