Fred Business News - Delta Air Lines Inc. has told flight attendants they'd be better off if they didn't unionize, a month before they begin voting whether to become the second major work group at the carrier to be represented by a union.
The Atlanta-based company said in a statement Tuesday that it has received notification from the National Mediation Board that the voting period for a union election among Delta's flight attendants has been scheduled for April 23 to June 3.
More than 50% of all Delta flight attendants must vote for union representation for the proposal to pass. If the vote is successful, Delta's 12,000 active flight attendants would be represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
A similar effort in late 2001 was rejected in election results announced on Feb. 1, 2002.
More than 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines are members of the AFA-CWA. The AFA is part of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America.
AFA-CWA represents Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp.'s roughly 8,000 flight attendants. Delta and Northwest have discussed a combination of the two airlines, but in recent weeks hopes of a successful merger have dimmed because their pilots have been unable to agree on how to integrate their seniority lists.
Currently, the only major work group at Delta to be represented by a union is its pilots.
Joanne Smith, senior vice president of in-flight service and global product development, said in a statement Tuesday that the company believes having a direct relationship with its flight attendants is better for the employees and the airline.
"The facts are: Delta flight attendants have it better than what the Association of Flight Attendants has been able to deliver at other airlines, and those airlines' contracts are not open to changes for several years to come - years in which Delta flight attendants will continue to enjoy higher rates of pay, a better profit sharing program and a better performance rewards program," Smith said.
As Delta has downsized over the last seven years, it has announced several rounds of job and pay cuts. In each case, it has been able to impose those cuts on its nonunion workers more swiftly than its unionized pilots, who have a contract with the company, the nation's third-largest carrier.
The company did get two rounds of hefty pay cuts in recent years from its pilots, but it was only able to do so by agreement with the union and a vote by its members.
Source; Cnn.com
About Fred: Fred is president of The I Team Organization. With a back ground in agriculture Fred has lead many successful business ventures.
