Talks over for now with no agreement reached in Northwest Strike

Three days of negotiations between Northwest Airlines and the union representing its striking mechanics ended Sunday morning with no new contract and uncertainty over when more talks would be held, the union and airline said.

"No additional labor talks have been scheduled for today," Shawn Brumbaugh, a spokeswoman for the airline, said.

In a recorded message on Sunday, Steve MacFarlane, assistant national director for the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association, also said the talks had ended without a deal to end the strike. "At this point it is unclear whether additional meetings are scheduled," he said to the New York Tines.

According to CNN, on Thursday, the airline raised its demand for concessions to $203 million from $176 million and proposed cutting 75 percent of the union's members from the payroll, a union official said Friday. Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest (Research) has declined to comment on negotiations.

But the airline has said soaring fuel costs could force it to ask for more givebacks from the 4,400 workers represented by AMFA.

Since the strike began Aug. 20, the airline has continued flying using replacement workers and outside vendors.