While the airline industry in the U.S. is largely unionized, Delta is different. Its pilots and dispatchers are unionized, but Delta’s technicians and flight attendants, as well as its ramp, cargo and tower employees, are not. With renewed efforts to change that following years of growing support for unions, it’s starting to look like we might actually see some real movement on the issue, leading lawmakers to warn Delta to keep its dirty union-busting hands away from organizing efforts.
Reuters reports more than 140 Democratic representatives sent Delta CEO Ed Bastian a letter urging Delta to stay neutral in union organization matters and pointing out that the airline had a record “of deploying union busting tactics” in the past. Those union-busting tactics include “threatening employees with termination of their benefits, distributing anti-union literature, and hosting an anti-union website.”
No Republicans signed the letter because, well, when was the last time anyone saw a Republican who could credibly be accused of supporting regular working-class people in any meaningful way?
Delta responded by saying that it “believes every employee has the right to choose or reject union representation without interference,” but that the airline “also has the right and responsibility to ensure our people can make their choice with an informed perspective.” It also pointed out that previous attempts to get workers to unionize had failed.
Unlike a traditional workplace where employees regularly interact in an office building or, at the very least, over Slack, because they’re spread out all over the country and in some cases, the world, it’s incredibly difficult for airline employees to organize in support of a union. Still, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Association of Flight Attendants and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers are all working together to overcome the challenges that stand in the way of a successful union drive at Delta, nor are they focused exclusively on Delta.
The Associated Press reports that unionized flight attendants across the country held rallies at 30 different airports earlier this week as they negotiate for improved contracts that include better pay and worker protections. While pilots won a huge pay increase last year, flight attendants haven’t seen a raise in years. “We haven’t had a raise in five years. Our flight attendants have seen the very rich contracts that the pilots did get, and they expect American Airlines to come to the table,” Julie Hedrick, president of the union at American, told the AP.
Flight attendants understandably want to make more money in general, and they’re also looking to end a policy that means they’re only paid from the time the airplane’s doors close to the time they open. All the time that flight attendants are required to spend waiting for the aircraft to board is unpaid except for, ironically enough, Delta’s flight attendants.
“We negotiated the contract that we’re working under back in 2014, when the cost of rent was much different, the cost of food was much less,” Hedrick said. “Here we are, 10 years later, trying to get a contract done so that our flight attendants can survive.”
While the cost of living is much higher than it was back in 2014, since the pandemic started flight attendants have been forced to deal with an increasing number of unruly passengers. In addition to having to put up with screaming, sometimes violent passengers, airlines have increasingly been delaying flights, and not always for weather-related reasons like they frequently claim.
“Flying these days is not fun,” Lyn Montgomery, president of Southwest’s union told the AP. “It’s chaotic. It’s crowded. We’re late, [flights are] delayed. We are tired and exhausted.”
Airline unions definitely have a long road ahead of them, but that doesn’t mean they’re alone. Forbes reports that United Auto Workers’ union president Shawn Fain joined the protest in Detroit on Wednesday, following Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson and 20 supporters through the Delta hub as a sign of solidarity.
While the UAW is separate from the airline unions, it certainly can’t hurt that both unionized and non-unionized employees witnessed Fain lead the autoworkers’ union to a huge victory following a six-week strike. That strike ended with a new contract that not only gave unionized autoworkers huge raises but also forced automakers to raise workers’ pay at non-union factories, as well. If the UAW can do it, so can the AFA and other airline unions.
“This is what we do as unions: We support each other,” Fain told several flight attendants over lunch. “We support organized labor. We support other workers who want their fair share of the fruits of their labor.”