From AFA Northwest:
Delta Air Lines Flight Attendants' Representation Election Voided
The National Mediation Board (NMB) announced today that Delta Air Lines flight attendants have lost their vote to join the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. With only 5,306, or 40 percent, of eligible flight attendants voting, the NMB could not certify AFA-CWA as the flight attendants' representative. These disappointing election results underscore a larger issue facing our industry and this nation—the unceasing attempt by executives to crush labor and the middle class and to run corporations without regard to workers or consumers.
Today's vote showed the makings of a silver lining for flight attendants in a Delta-Northwest merger. Combining the votes for AFA-CWA in this election with our numbers here at Northwest shows that we have the support to win a second election for the combined workforce when the merger occurs.
Our Master Executive Council (MEC), AFA-CWA International and Delta activists are prepared to battle Delta executives' arsenal of anti-union propaganda in a second representation election, one that will be initiated by the NMB once a Northwest/Delta merger is approved and the airlines operate as a "single transportation system," as defined in the NMB's representation manual. Past mergers have reached this operational definition in as little as six months while others have taken as long as two years. We will need every minute of this time and every flight attendant's resolve to overcome the enormous, unprecedented investment Delta has made to defeat our right to have a voice in our own future.
The NMB vote results give rise to this extraordinary challenge for Northwest flight attendants: after over sixty years as a legally recognized partner in our airline's merger history, we are now confronted with the real possibility of losing our contract, our union and our collective bargaining rights in a merger designed solely by Delta Air Lines executives. We cannot be complacent.
At this moment, our MEC Officers, Delta's AFA-CWA Steering Committee and AFA-CWA International Officers are meeting to refine our focus moving forward. As a consequence of this first NMB vote, our efforts must escalate from simply supporting Delta flight attendants' right to union representation to defending six decades of union tradition at Northwest—a history of being legally able to hold management accountable for its decisions in mergers or related transactions as a result of our negotiated right to be included in any such discussions. If the Department of Justice approves a Delta/Northwest merger we are prepared to exercise every available resource to retain our collective bargaining rights at a merged carrier, including necessary legal measures.
Though we have lost this first election, we admire and respect AFA-CWA activists at Delta Air Lines for their perseverance despite management interference in their legal right to seek union representation. We stand committed to strengthening our collective influence at the bargaining table. We know that Delta and Northwest flight attendants are better together, and in unity beyond a successful second election, we will reassert our leverage in a merger as proud members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
Delta Air Lines Flight Attendants' Representation Election Voided
The National Mediation Board (NMB) announced today that Delta Air Lines flight attendants have lost their vote to join the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. With only 5,306, or 40 percent, of eligible flight attendants voting, the NMB could not certify AFA-CWA as the flight attendants' representative. These disappointing election results underscore a larger issue facing our industry and this nation—the unceasing attempt by executives to crush labor and the middle class and to run corporations without regard to workers or consumers.
Today's vote showed the makings of a silver lining for flight attendants in a Delta-Northwest merger. Combining the votes for AFA-CWA in this election with our numbers here at Northwest shows that we have the support to win a second election for the combined workforce when the merger occurs.
Our Master Executive Council (MEC), AFA-CWA International and Delta activists are prepared to battle Delta executives' arsenal of anti-union propaganda in a second representation election, one that will be initiated by the NMB once a Northwest/Delta merger is approved and the airlines operate as a "single transportation system," as defined in the NMB's representation manual. Past mergers have reached this operational definition in as little as six months while others have taken as long as two years. We will need every minute of this time and every flight attendant's resolve to overcome the enormous, unprecedented investment Delta has made to defeat our right to have a voice in our own future.
The NMB vote results give rise to this extraordinary challenge for Northwest flight attendants: after over sixty years as a legally recognized partner in our airline's merger history, we are now confronted with the real possibility of losing our contract, our union and our collective bargaining rights in a merger designed solely by Delta Air Lines executives. We cannot be complacent.
At this moment, our MEC Officers, Delta's AFA-CWA Steering Committee and AFA-CWA International Officers are meeting to refine our focus moving forward. As a consequence of this first NMB vote, our efforts must escalate from simply supporting Delta flight attendants' right to union representation to defending six decades of union tradition at Northwest—a history of being legally able to hold management accountable for its decisions in mergers or related transactions as a result of our negotiated right to be included in any such discussions. If the Department of Justice approves a Delta/Northwest merger we are prepared to exercise every available resource to retain our collective bargaining rights at a merged carrier, including necessary legal measures.
Though we have lost this first election, we admire and respect AFA-CWA activists at Delta Air Lines for their perseverance despite management interference in their legal right to seek union representation. We stand committed to strengthening our collective influence at the bargaining table. We know that Delta and Northwest flight attendants are better together, and in unity beyond a successful second election, we will reassert our leverage in a merger as proud members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
AL - News) has received notification from the National Mediation Board (NMB) that a decisive majority -- more than 60 percent -- of eligible flight attendants rejected representation by the Association of Flight Attendants/Communication Workers of America (AFA) in the representation election at Delta, and the airline will continue a direct relationship with its flight attendants.
