Congress Calls on Delta Air Lines to Stop Anti-Union Campaign

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and more than 70 members of Congress wrote a letter calling on Delta Air Lines to immediately cease their anti-union campaign that has been extensively reported on in recent weeks. As Delta’s Flight Attendants and Fleet Service Workers decide whether to form a union with the IAM, Delta has engaged in an outrageous series of dissuasion techniques, including hiring a consultant to manage an anti-union website and distributing offensive flyers in employee spaces.

“We understand your company has been exposing workers to a coordinated series of outrageous anti-union propaganda materials,” reads the letter. “This has included a website called ‘Don’t Risk It. Don’t Sign It,’ which features misleading and deceptive claims about the role of a union and about the IAM specifically. We specifically take issue with the claim that ‘certifying a union would end our direct relationship and insert a middleman between delta people and leaders.’ We can only assume that this is a willful mischaracterization. When workers come together to form a union, they decide who their representatives will be and what their priorities for the workplace are. Referring to your own workers as‘middlemen’ is insulting to the contributions they make to your company and our country’s aviation industry.”

Click here to read the entire letter.

The IAM has overwhelming evidence that Delta Air Lines has interfered with the Flight Attendants and Fleet Service Workers’ lawful right to seek a vote for union representation free from interference, influence or coercion exercised by the carrier.

“The public, our elected officials, and others continue the rally cry for justice. It is the time for Delta’s Flight Attendants and Fleet Service Workers to have a vote to join the IAM free from company threats, retaliation or coercion,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “I want to thank Rep. Pocan and other members of Congress for supporting the workers at Delta Air Lines and the freedom to choose to join in union.”

This campaign is about achieving competitive wages, dignity, consistency in the workplace and quality benefits for Delta workers and their families,” said IAM Transporation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “We are grateful to see so many members of Congress support our efforts at Delta Air Lines.”  

The IAM is the world’s largest airline union, representing more than 110,000 airline employees in North America. The IAM represented fleet service workers at Northwest Airlines before the carrier merged with Delta. After a bitter, hard-fought representation election, during which the U.S. government cited Delta for numerous violations of labor election rules, the fleet service workers were stripped of their collective bargaining rights.For more information about the IAM/Delta campaigns visit iamdelta.net and dalramp.org.

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