CWA Blasts Board For Conclusion That Management Did Not Coerce Members To Vote "No"

The National Mediation Board late last week notified Delta Airlines that it has rejected claims of interference filed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) following the November 2010 Delta flight attendant representation election. With its ruling, the NMB has upheld the decision of a majority of voters to reject AFA representation, allowing Delta flight attendants to move forward as a combined workgroup. Still pending are interference claims relating to representation elections for employees in Delta's Airport Customer Service, Cargo, Reservation Sales and TechOps Stores groups. The majority of voters in these elections also rejected union representation.

"We have always believed that our flight attendants' voices and votes should be respected," said Joanne Smith, senior vice president – In-Flight Service. "We take very seriously our commitment to helping our employees take advantage of the full benefits of the merger. To that end, we will immediately begin the process of aligning pay, benefits, work rules and seniority for our flight attendants, including bringing pre-merger Northwest flight attendants up to the Delta flight attendant hourly pay rates."

"We are hopeful similar decisions related to those elections will come quickly so that our people in those groups will be able to move forward as well," said Mike Campbell, executive vice president of H.R. and Labor Relations. "It is time to turn the page and continue to focus on making Delta a great place to work. We have the best men and women in the industry and I am grateful for the professionalism they've demonstrated during the past three years." 

But the decision is being condemned by the Communications Workers of America and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The Unions say the NMB decision throws out 60 years of bargaining rights for the Northwest Flight Attendants and denies the Delta Flight Attendants any say over their working conditions. The decision ignores the outrageous interference of Delta management in the union election among 25,000 flight attendants.

The unions contend that the NMB found that Delta urged Flight Attendants to vote “No” as the best way to support another Union, and also found evidence of increased supervisor surveillance in the workplace; that Delta misstated the NMB’s decertification procedures; incidents of supervisor threats against Union supporters; and most revealing, that Delta ran “an aggressive campaign against union representation.” However, the Board concluded that this coercive conduct did not affect the outcome. The contend Delta management launched a blatant and persistent attack on Flight Attendants’ rights to fairly choose a union voice and did everything possible to pressure thousands of Flight Attendants who want union representation.

Union leadership asserts that, given the close margin of that election, Delta continues its determination to keep workers from having a union. This includes lobbying to shut down the FAA by insisting that an anti-democratic voting standard for union elections be inserted in the FAA reauthorization. The say Delta seems to be more focused on its anti-union agenda than the performance of the airline, since it has bumped paying passengers to bring anti-worker lobbyists to Congress.

“With this decision, the NMB has now given a green light to all manner of employer coercion and intimidation during representation election that leaves employees with no recourse. It is a shameful, illogical and cowardly decision,” said AFA-CWA International President Veda Shook. “The NMB is clearly afraid of the airline of the one percent that showers Members of Congress with perks while at the same time raising its Flight Attendants’ health insurance premiums.”

FMI: www.cwa-union.org, www.delta.com, www.nmb.gov