Try dumpster-diving, Northwest Airlines tells workers !!!

[Better Believe It]

Try Dumpster-diving, airline tells workers
Baggage handlers facing layoffs get 101 money-savings tips from employer Northwest Airlines, like moving to a cheaper place or never grocery-shopping while hungry.

By MSN Money staff and wire reports

Northwest Airlines, which has slashed wages and jobs and is looking to lay off more workers as it exits bankruptcy, has apologized for distributing a booklet of money-savings tips for workers that includes advice that they go dumpster-diving.

The fifth-largest U.S. carrier put the tips in a booklet handed out to about 50 workers and posted for a time on its employee Web site. The booklet was part of a 150-page packet to ground workers, such as baggage handlers, whose jobs will likely be cut after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource some of their work.

Prepared with the help of an outside company, the booklet encourages employees to manage their money better and prepare for financial emergencies. In one section, called "Preparing for a Financial Setback," Northwest suggests that workers can take "a date for a walk along the beach or in the woods." It also says they should not be "shy about pulling something you like out of the trash."

Also among the tips: No. 48: Move to a less expensive place to live; and No. 59: Never grocery shop hungry.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski says some employees were offended by the suggestions.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/TryDumpsterDivingAirlineTellsWorkers.aspx

[undeterred]

1. I hope they don't tell that to their mechanics

when they need parts for the planes.

[Naturyl]

7. That's one reason I refuse to fly.

I know how these companies cut costs in every possible way they can get away with, without regard for safety.

Irrational, perhaps... but I try to avoid directly putting my life in the hands of corporations.

I do use cars, but car wrecks are often survivable. Plane crashes rarely are. Plus, the condition of a car is somewhat under my control.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. That's where I have to disagree with you.

I'm an airline employee. Safety is the one area that is *not* neglected. For one thing, the FAA very closely monitors EVERYTHING an airline does -- as it should. For another thing, airline employees and their families ride on those airplanes. No pilot I know would ever accept an aircraft he thought might be unsafe, nor would a mechanic sign off a repair that had not been done properly. And nothing would be worse for any airline's business than an accident. You have no idea how intensely safety is emphasized. I would not hesitate for an instant to fly on any major US airline because I know how they operate. The cost cutting is mainly from the employees' pay, unfortunately. That's how people can enjoy cheap fares.

[Naturyl]

17. Good to hear (regarding safety).

I may have to re-evaluate my position on this. Thank goodness for the FAA, anyway. More meddling government types making decisions for average Americans. In this case, the decision that they shouldn't have to die in a plane crash.

[Xicano]

27. I use to work as a flight line mechanic and I disagree with you.

The FAA DOES try to closely monitor everything, but, they're not always on site watching everything. I walked away from being an A&P mechanic the first chance I got because I refuse to be a part of allowing some planes to fly that needed major repairs - mostly engine wear and corrosion problems but not just.

Airlines, unlike private planes, are not required to have 100 hour inspections. Instead what would be the 100 hour inspection is spread out throughout the year. The biggest problem I saw with this is corrosion and pitting with engine turbine blades, corrosion and fatigue with certain areas along the fuselage, dissimilar metal electrolysis with rivets, and, breaks & tire ware going on for too long to be safe.

I still remember doing a walk around inspection for icing buildup and bird strike damage after one of our DC9's landed. On one of the leading edge close-out panels in the wing-root area were all the fasteners (about 30 of them) attaching this panel sticking out because they all were only screwed down little better than hand tight. It is only by a miracle that g-stresses and vibrations didn't knock loose one of those fasteners or the whole panel itself. Right down range in line of sight of that panel was one of the DC9's engines. That engine would have been FOD'ed out and only big time luck kept that from happening.

I am sorry Velveteen but as a former A&P mechanic I have to disagree with you. However you are correct about how intensively safety is looked at. Nevertheless reality isn't always what it appears to be.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. This happened three years ago. Did they just now hear about it?

NWA is now Delta.

[Better Believe It]

4. Just saw a link to this news on a July 23rd article in MSN Money

[bkkyosemite]

3. Well the ones who wrote those tips are probably the one's at the top taking those huge bonuses.

A*sholes!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Actually, they were written (3 years ago) by an outside consultant.

Obviously the document was not reviewed before it was distributed.

[Warpy]

16. No shit, otherwise it would have cautioned that anything

edible from a dumpster has to be re cooked before it can be considered safe.

The best way to die from food borne illness is to eat anything straight out of the garbage.

[panader0]

6. I've gotta admit I've done it.

Not food but those big construction dumpsters. It's crazy what some builders throw away. Perfectly good stuff so they don't have to deal with it. Lumber, tile, insulation and lotsa buckets.

[merh]

32. Me too, I've found some expensive pieces of furniture that were

thrown out and put them in my car, repaired and refinished them and been very happy with the end result and proud of my efforts.

You are spot on about construction dumpsters and those buckets come in handy for fishing and crabby and storing stuff outside. The lumber is great for making home repairs.

I know one guy who makes a decent bit of money fixing up things he finds in the trash and dumpsters and then selling them at garage sales.

Our nation is too quick to dispose of items than can be repaired and reused.

[MineralMan]

8. Northwest Airlines is no more. This is old stuff.

[Better Believe It]

9. Please don't unrecommend this like a-holes who hate seeing this kind of news on DU

See .... the unrecommend feature does its job, it works!

Only happy thoughts now please!

Now let's all sing together with those conservative and "centrist" a-holes who parade around on DU pretending to be progressives while hitting that unrecommend button, "Happy Days Are Here Again"!

Give the conservative right-wing Dems a foot and they take a mile!

Did I write give them a foot? I meant give them the boot!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. Except that it's about an incident that happened three years ago

that was the act of an outside HR consultant and involved an airline that no longer exists. So I'm not sure why it's relevant now (and no, I didn't unrecommend; that's a stupid feature that I never use).

[Better Believe It]

13. I won't unrecommend any post either. That would be undemocratic and glad you don't do it.

[anigbrowl]

15. I hate seeing news from 2006 as if it just broke. Does that make me an asshole? OK.

[Better Believe It]

19. You can ignore it or just not post here! You need to become familiar with DU features!

And you choose to read it the article and post in this string!

Perhaps you should pay closer attention before firing off a silly response.

1. No date was give for this article at the news link.

2. You may, or may not have read the article, but ALL Du'ers haven't necessarily read all of the news articles you have read.
Is that difficult for you to accept?

3. This board does not require that all news posted here be late breaking news stories. In fact, DU has a seperate discussion board just for posting late breaking news! You must be new here and didn't know that .... right?

[anigbrowl]

21. Actually, I've been here longer than you

So I think I am entitled to my opinion, just as you are entitled to disagree with it.

Let's be honest here: you thought it was current when you posted it. Now you're frantically inventing reasons why we should be concerned about it even though it isn't, whereas if you had that idea in mind to begin with you would have constructed your post that way. A simple 'doh!' on finding out you'd posted ancient news about a company that no longer exists would have sufficed, and this is what I do when I make an embarrassing mistake. But hey, knock yourself out. It is now clearly all about You.

[Better Believe It]

30. So being here longer gives you nitpicking privileges?

That's all you've done so far in this string.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I only wish you had posted one!

Well, I guess you actually did. Your only gripe is not with the treatment of these airline workers but the fact that this happened way back in ancient times .... all of three years ago!

So if you've already read the article and have no opinion on it, outside of it being ancient, (pre-mideveal or BC?) just move on, no reason for you to hang around nitpicking unless you're sitting at home with nothing better to do.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. I have found some nice stuff in the dumpster

Because the IT department where I work is full of lazy morons and doing things like ordering a replacement power supply for something or downloading drivers is harder than throwing the said object away you can find some nice stuff in there.

[Better Believe It]

20. But have you found some really delicious four star food in a dumpster?

:)

[stray cat]

14. Can you pay those who lose their jobs? No one else will except if they get unemployment

companies and small businesses can't pay people if they don't have money - the government has money for welfare not businesses. I've collected cans for recycling, taken multiple newspaper routes before work as an adult. You do what you can to cut costs and make ends meet and try to find another job - hopefully one that pays well but many are taking cuts in standards of living. These employees are in the same boat as the rest.

[Jkid]

18. Move to a less expensive place to live?

Good luck with that. Most of the inexpensive places to live are the most crime-ridden.

[bkkyosemite]

22. Or if you can't move yourself you can't afford to move.

[Odin2005]

23. "some employees were offended by the suggestions" YA THINK!?!

I am, too! :puke:

No that there is anything bad with dumpster-diving (I do it myself, I find lots of stuff), but the context was really offensive in the "let them eat cake" way.

[mysuzuki2]

24. # 51

Don't go to work for a company that doesn't give a shit about you.

[AwakeAtLast]

26. Name one company who gives a shit about its employees

It is all about the mighty dollar. This pamphlet could have come from any company.

[marmar]

25. That story is really old.

Relevant, but not current.

[Better Believe It]

28. And as you point out relevant and deserves to be told.

[arikara]

29. What I want to know is

how do they outsource baggage handling???

...baggage handlers, whose jobs will likely be cut after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource some of their work.

[Wolf-Were]

31. That is just stupid crap.