MINNEAPOLIS — It didn't take an imminent strike for Joe Wagner to feel insecure about his job at Northwest Airlines.

Wagner, a Northwest mechanic for more than 15 years, has spent the last two of them looking for his next career. It's nearly certain to be for less money, but Wagner's ready to trade that for some peace of mind.

"It's just a matter of time for me," said Wagner, 41. "I wasn't going to wait for the layoff. I figure I have one shot to retrain for a new career, and I didn't want to let Northwest set the timetable."

As a potential strike by mechanics looms, many rank-and-file union members are prepared to ride it out. But some others, like Wagner, began retraining for new jobs some time ago.

A strike wouldn't take anyone by surprise. Northwest has laid off 2,500 mechanics in Minneapolis since the beginning of the Iraq war more than two years ago, local union leader Ted Ludwig said. The only reason Wagner still has his job is because he agreed to work on vehicles instead of airplanes two years ago.

Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline, wants $1.1 billion in overall wage concessions from its workers, and has warned that it could seek bankruptcy if it doesn't get them. That includes $176 million from mechanics. Northwest also wants to lay off roughly 2,000 of its current 4,500 union mechanics.

The two sides were preparing for a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. EDT next Saturday.

For employees like Wagner, it's easy to see a layoff as inevitable, said Richard Gritta, a University of Portland professor who studies labor relations.

"I've heard people say, 'I've had enough of this, I'm thinking about doing something else with my life,"' he said. "The stress, the fighting, the constant worrying about whether your company is going into Bankruptcy Court, it's too much."

Mechanics have specialized skills, and while major airlines are outsourcing maintenance work, most union mechanics have little stomach for jobs with those third-party vendors. Common career alternatives are heating and ventilation jobs, car repair, land surveying and electronics.

But they're likely to take a significant pay cut — as much as 50 percent — from the average Northwest mechanic's salary of $70,000, said Ludwig, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33.

Wagner has attended several technical schools in recent years to check out different careers, and says now he's considering work as either a paralegal or a sheet-metal worker.

He and his wife, Colleen, live in Coon Rapids, a suburb about 20 minutes north of Minneapolis. The couple have three children, all college age, in their blended family. Colleen works as a preschool teacher and says the family couldn't get by on her salary alone.

As Wagner's worries about his job grew in recent years, the family postponed renovating their house and began eating out less.

In the nearly four years since the Sept. 11 attacks devastated the industry, Wagner and his wife have taken just one vacation: a weekend getaway to the East Coast.

If he's laid off, Joe expects a severance package equal to six months of income.

"I knew that if I was laid off, I would need to be employable in a year. I figure I can last a year without too much pain," said Joe Wagner.