Byron Dorgan: “last Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m., labor negotiations between Northwest Airlines and its pilots broke down. There was…”

“last Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m., labor negotiations between Northwest Airlines and its pilots broke down. There was a labor strike and, therefore, a shutdown of Northwest operations. The result of that shutdown of operations means that all jet airplane service to North Dakota is gone. The shutdown has a substantial impact on our entire region of the country, but on our State it has a profound impact because all jet service is now gone. There is not one jet flying in or out of North Dakota. I have talked to President Clinton. I have talked to Secretary of Transportation Slater. I have talked to Northwest Airlines and I have talked to the pilots. It is clear to me that this labor dispute is not going to be settled in the coming hours. We have waited now for several days following the shutdown, during which the Transportation Secretary called the parties together. But even from that, there is not a negotiation ongoing. None is scheduled tomorrow, and none is scheduled the next day, as I understand it. It is now clear to me this will not be settled quickly unless the President invokes his emergency powers. This dispute is about corporate profits and pilots' paychecks, and they have every right to have a dispute about that.”