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Strength in numbers is what gathered many at the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation hall recently. Many are workers for Delta Air Lines in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul, and they all could agree on one thing – costs for everyday living are getting out of hand.
“No matter what part of the plane you’re at, eggs cost the same, rent costs the same, no matter what part of the plane you’re working on,” said Marcia Howard, President of the Minnesota Federation of Teachers. “Collectively, how are we going to stand? Side to side, shoulder to shoulder, and I am telling you, it’s going to be here.”
A packed union hall already had many standing side to side, shoulder to shoulder, just to hear speakers.
WATCH: Delta workers push for a vote to unionize in MN KARE-TV Minneapolis
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum and Campaign Manager Raquel Sidie-Wagner for U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, spoke about how powerful and mighty a union could be for Delta ramp, cargo, and tower workers, who are organizing with the IAM Union, and their siblings who are Delta flight attendants, organizing with the AFA-CWA, across the country.
The push is on to ensure that union authorization cards signed are less than one year old.
“As long as you keep fighting you’re gonna win. We are absolutely going to win,” IAM Associate Organizer Tiffany Lopez told the prospective members.
She, along with other organizers working on the Delta organizing campaign, put this rally together to keep people together and focused on what a unionized Delta workforce could accomplish.
“There is nothing wrong with wanting more,” said Lopez. “There is nothing wrong with needing and demanding the respect you deserve.”
Rob LaVigne, a Delta ramp worker in Minneapolis, spoke to the crowd as his daughter, Aubrielle, looked on.
“Sweetie, I am going to say some words. Don’t repeat them,” said LaVigne.
He asked if anyone in the hall thinks it’s fair that Delta’s healthcare coverage, which covers his daughter, has changed three times in the past four years.
“I am going to talk about respect,” said LaVgine. “Do you feel respected by Delta Air Lines? Respect is not fearing that you are going to lose your full time schedule every six months because the company wants to make $4.7 billion in profit, instead of $4.6 billion. They come to the ramp to make cuts.”
“It’s not a movement trying to crush the company into oblivion,” said LaVigne. “We’re trying to raise up this airline and raise up the workers that made the airline.”
“A strong union makes company management better,” said IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richie Johnsen. “If the company’s relationship with their workers has power and meaning, they have to respect that workforce when decisions are made. These workers are trying to organize so that they have power and a voice on the job. I am so proud that the IAM is helping with that movement.”
Amanda Goodman Berry knows what it’s like to try to move Delta management to make change. As a Delta ramp worker in Minneapolis, she championed a campaign to update a company MLK Day video including not only his “I Have A Dream Speech,” but the foundation of his work building up the working class and standing for worker rights.
“Dr. King was organizing sanitation workers back in 1968 [hours before his assassination], so I invited Delta to match their words to what they were saying,” said Goodman Berry. “The solidarity of the various people that came out today was very important to us. This was a powerhouse of leaders, groups, and people supporting the [Delta] ramp know that we will 100% get to the finish line with the IAM, and the IAM has given us unwavering support.”
It’s a numbers game, and for Delta ramp, cargo and tower, along with flight attendants – it’s game on.
