Mesaba Airlines' power to impose concessions on its unionized workers was taken away Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis.
Davis determined that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregory Kishel erred in mid-July when he granted the airline the authority to nullify existing labor contracts with its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. Ruling on an appeal by the carrier's unions, Davis decided that Mesaba didn't negotiate in good faith and failed a legal test requiring it to be "fair and equitable" in spreading the pain of its bankruptcy restructuring.
See "Judge voids Mesaba's power to force cuts", Liz Fedor, Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 14, 2006