Delta Slammed for Interfering with Employees' Union Election

AFA-CWA has slammed Delta Airlines for engaging in a campaign of voter suppression and interference during the flight attendants' union representation election.

Delta is engaging in voter suppression by urging attendants to rip up their voting instructions from the National Mediation Board.

Just after the election began on April 23 (it ends May 28), Delta erected posters in flight attendants' crew lounges encouraging them rip up their official election information and voting instructions – "Give a Rip: Don't Click, Don't Dial" – before even bothering to read about their rights. Every flight attendant was mailed the voting information by the National Mediation Board, the federal agency overseeing the election.

This week, Delta flight attendants went to Capitol Hill to brief dozens of members of Congress about the airline's aggressive anti-union campaign tactics.  AFA President Pat Friend said, "The flight attendants' campaign is all about fairness and winning a democratic voice in the workplace which is why management's outrageous conduct is so underhanded."

During congressional testimony last week about the Delta-Northwest merger, Delta CEO Richard Anderson promised that management "was supportive of the democratic process and would not engage in illegal interference." The airline's voter suppression campaign and numerous reports of management interference flatly contradict his statement, AFA-CWA is charging. An AFA video about Delta management's hypocrisy can be viewed here.

Flight attendants are permitted by law to share campaign materials in their crew lounges, but "managers have been tearing down union literature as soon as flight attendants put it up," reports Northwest flight attendant Danny Campbell, who is assisting union supporters at Delta. At airports across the country, local managers have been sharply limiting the areas where union supporters can display materials. A manager in Atlanta prevented the flight attendants from erecting a small table tent in their crew lounge.

"Management will do whatever it takes to make sure we do not have a voice," said Delta flight attendant Mara Levene. "But a solid majority of us wanted this election and despite management's fear tactics, bullying and intimidation, we remain determined and are voting for AFA-CWA representation," she said.