Flight attendants say struggle continues
Delta exploits 9/11 to stop union
By Michelle Quintus
Member, Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO
In August 2001, the majority of Delta Airlines' flight
attendants signed representation cards requesting union
representation by the Association of Flight Attendants,
AFL-CIO. But by the close of the vote on Jan. 30 of this year,
only 29 percent had returned a ballot voting for the
union--5,609 votes out of a potential 19,033--no longer the
majority needed to win representation.
What happened between then and now? A bare-knuckled
anti-union campaign that included blatant exploitation of the
Sept. 11 tragedy. This illegal campaign to interfere with the
flight attendants' vote was decisive in discouraging flight
attendants from voting in the largest union election in the
airline industry.
With close to 20,000 flight attendants involved, the Delta
vote was also the largest private-sector union election in more
than 30 years. Delta is the only major U.S. air carrier whose
flight attendants do not have union representation.
According to hundreds of flight attendant reports, Delta
didn't just discuss the effects of the hijackings on the
airline. The bosses used Sept. 11 to make flight attendants
fear for their jobs if they voted for the union.
"While we were grieving for the loss of our co-workers on
those planes on 9/11, Delta management used our fears and
anxiety against us," said Los Angeles-based flight attendant
Lorraine York. "Delta illegally interfered with our rights as
American workers before the terrorist attacks. But that paled
in comparison to management's exploitation of our national
tragedy."
The bosses at Delta engaged in various tactics to create an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
On Sept. 12, Delta began conducting weekly conference calls
that were censored, so that pro-union flight attendants were
not permitted to ask questions. Other departments at Delta do
not have these conference calls, only flight attendants.
Delta lied to the over 3,000 laid-off flight attendants,
telling them they were not eligible to vote to keep them from
returning their ballots. In fact, all laid-off flight
attendants were eligible to vote and were most likely the
workers who most directly understood the need for a union.
"Videos of our CEO played continuously in our crew rooms,"
said Seattle-based flight attendant Mike Trau. "He kept
repeating the threats 9/11 have placed on our airline and
talking about our family atmosphere, then he'd instruct us to
rip up our ballots." Not returning a ballot in a National
Mediation Board election is a "no" vote.
Delta communications with flight attendants during the
election period inextricably linked Delta's survival to
defeating the union effort. These communications included:
Letters and videos from senior management to the homes of
flight attendants implicitly threatening them with job loss if
they unionized.
Supervisors illegally questioning AFA supporters, asking,
"How can you support a union at a time like this?"
Management constantly referring to the job losses in the
industry in the wake of 9/11 and falsely promoting Delta's
layoff plans as better than those at unionized carriers.
One-on-one meetings where supervisors would take aside
flight attendants they identified as AFA supporters and grill
them on their support for the union, in many cases saying that
support was anti-Delta.
"Democratic elections are supposed to express the voice of
the people," said AFA International President Patricia Friend.
"In this election, the flight attendants' voices were silenced
by fear and intimidation. Now the American government must act
to punish Delta for violating the rights of its workers and
silencing their voices. Delta's entire campaign focused on
creating fear and uncertainty in flight attendants' minds."
In October 2001, the NMB found that the flight attendant
claims presented a prima facie case of illegal conduct against
Delta (see www.afanet.org). But rather than take action to
charge Delta with illegal conduct and provide the flight
attendants with an atmosphere free from intimidation when
voting, the NMB held off further investigation and hearings on
the charges until after the election.
Now, the NMB will begin a full-scale investigation into the
charges of illegal conduct by the bosses at Delta. The NMB
could set a new election, possibly changing the balloting
procedures to make the balloting process less likely to be
influenced by Deltaillegal conduct.
Almost 50,000 flight attendants at 26 carriers joined
together to form AFA, the largest flight attendant union in the
world. Delta flight attendants have the right to join this
powerful union of workers free from intimidation and fear of
their bosses. This struggle is far from over. In fact, it has
just begun.
Reprinted from the Feb. 14, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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