But any of them can be kicked off the board if the union representatives for the pilots and machinists unions agree they should go.

The machinists union, which has 22,000 members working at Northwest, made an offer.

But these are two of the smartest institutions around: the machinists union and Boeing.

Members of the machinists union were to vote on their tentative agreement yesterday, with the results to be announced today.

Members of the machinists union are completing a vote on whether to support a strike, with results expected today.

The machinists union has 550,000 active workers on its membership rolls.

Like the mechanics, the machinists union has threatened to strike United if its contract is set aside.

Talks continued yesterday between United and the machinists union.

United and the machinists union have been negotiating a contract for the last year.

The last to ratify was the machinists union, which did so yesterday morning.