Voter Suppression Charged in Delta Election

Poster in a Delta Airlines crew lounge urges flight attendants to rip up ther union ballots.

From the very moment Delta flight attendants began receiving their official voting information in the mail from the National Mediation Board, the federal agency overseeing their election, management has gone out of the way to suppress the vote, urging workers to tear up their ballots.

Just after the election began on April 23 (it ends May 28), Delta posted signs in flight attendants' crew lounges encouraging them rip up the voting information before even bothering to read about their rights. "Give a Rip: Don't Click, Don't Dial," the posters state.

AFA-CWA has slammed Delta for engaging in a campaign of voter suppression and interference during the union election. Dozens of Delta flight attendants went to Capitol Hill to brief members of Congress about the airline's anti-democratic tactics.  "The flight attendants' campaign is all about fairness and winning a democratic voice in the workplace," AFA-CWA President Pat Friend said adding, "which is why management's outrageous conduct is so underhanded."

Just a week earlier, Delta's CEO, Richard Anderson, had promised that the airline "was supportive of the democratic process and would not engage in illegal interference." Anderson's promise is contradicted by the airline's "Give a Rip" campaign and numerous reports of management interference at airports across the Delta system.

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," said Northwest flight attendant Danny Campbell, who is assisting union supporters at Delta. Local managers also 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 remained determined and are voting for AFA-CWA representation."

An AFA-CWA video about Delta management's hypocrisy can be viewed at www.deltaafa.org.