Union workers at Delta hope for another chance

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4714

Union workers at Delta hope for another chance

By Michael Moore
15 December 2010

ST. PAUL - Delta Air Lines employees, including thousands in Minnesota, voted this fall in a series of major union-organizing elections to determine whether they will maintain the carrier’s non-union legacy or adopt the union representation enjoyed by workers at Northwest Airlines, which Delta absorbed last year.

In all of the elections, Delta employees narrowly rejected union representation, according to the National Mediation Board, which oversees organizing elections in the airline industry.

Both unions seeking to organize Delta workers – the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and the International Association of Machinists – have filed complaints with the NMB that cast doubt on the fairness of the elections and the legitimacy of their outcomes.

If the election results stand, however, they will have major implications – not only for Delta workers, but for the Flight Attendants, the Machinists and the broader labor community in Minnesota as well.

For the time being, Delta workers are hanging onto the status quo – a two-tiered shop where the company continues to honor most of the terms of former Northwest employees’ contracts – while union organizers are holding out hope for a second round of elections, free from employer interference.

“Right now we’re hanging on to the terms of our contract without a grievance procedure,” said Ken Hooker, president of Twin Cities-based Machinists Local 1833. “The company is waiting until everything is resolved, until the NMB makes a ruling.

“We’re hoping to get another shot at the apple.”

FULL story at link.