The state Senate voted Monday to extend unemployment benefits to former Northwest Airlines Corp. mechanics even as they continue to strike.
Last year, Minnesota employment judge Kent Todd ruled that mechanics are not eligible to receive such benefits unless they stopped picketing. But a DFL measure, which passed 37-28, said otherwise.
"We have extended that hand of largesse from this state to Northwest Airlines time and time again, and now it's the time to extend that hand to workers who have lost their jobs," said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, according to media reports.
Most of the striking mechanics lost their jobs, leaving the strike functionally over for months. In December, members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, who are leading the strikers, voted down an offer to switch mechanics' status from strike to laid off. The measure would have made them eligible for state unemployment benefits without a legislative measure.
The union began the strike against Eagan-based Northwest (Pink Sheets: NWACQ) in late August.
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