The skies are a little bit friendlier for flight attendants at Northwest Airlines today, as a bankruptcy court judge has upheld their right to strike under the Railway Labor Act.

By Jesse Russell

Judge Allan L. Gropper denied a request by Northwest to block plans by workers represented by the Association of Flight Attendants to strike. AFA representative Rick Thornton told the Workers Independent News that the ruling is a victory for not only the flight attendants, but also “all working people.” Unless the airline meets the union’s demands, the AFA plan to move forward on August 25 with CHAOS, an acronym for Create Havoc Around Our System - a trademarked strategy of random unannounced strikes. Thronton said that could mean anything - all flights across the board, all flights to North Dakota, all odd numbered gates - only a handful of organizers know at any one time. Thornton added that the ruling comes at a time when workers at Northwest feel unified due to a poorly worded memo the airline sent out to ground workers who are in the process of being laid off. In the memo the airline suggested “101 ways” the unemployed workers could cope with financial hardships. One suggestion was for workers to “dig through garbage.” Thornton said workers throughout the company found the document insensitive.