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Airline Workers Demand Place at Table in Northwest-Delta Merger |
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For the past several years, flight attendants, pilots and other airline workers have sacrificed pay, benefits and working conditions through a long series of bankruptcies, restructurings, mergers, layoffs and threatened liquidations. And on Thursday, airline unions told Congress workers must have a voice at the table when the biggest merger in the industry is being discussed.
The proposed merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines would create the nation’s largest carrier. But without key protections, the workers at both companies could suffer, and they urged Congress to send a strong message to the carriers that the merger cannot be an excuse to bust unions or abrogate contracts.
Veda Shook, vice president of the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), pointed out that the merger is taking place at the same time as Delta’s 13,500 flight attendants are voting on whether to join AFA-CWA. The union already represents the Northwest flight attendants. Given Delta management’s history of anti-union behavior, she called on the airline to remain neutral in the election and asked Congress to monitor the airline’s behavior. She said the company has already hired an anti-union consultant to help thwart the workers’ desire for a union.
Shook reminded the Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws of the House Judiciary Committee that bargaining rights are vital for airline employees to be able to negotiate over the impact of the proposed merger.
In the context of this merger, the company’s anti-union tactics take on added urgency; the merger should not be permitted to become a vehicle for union-busting. There are virtually no protections for airline workers in a merger, and little attention has been paid to the extreme upheaval that mergers create for the thousands of airline employees who find themselves unemployed, whose lives are disrupted, or whose work may be outsourced. The only protection employees have today is through their individual unions and collective bargaining agreements, but there is little to no protection for nonunion airline employees.
Click here to read Shook’s statement.
At the same time, Machinists (IAM) President Tom Buffenbarger told the panel the rush to consolidate airlines is not good for workers or consumers.
The merger will form the world’s largest airline, creating the world’s biggest corporate headache. Consolidation is not the solution for this troubled industry—more competent management is. This industry is in disarray, and the executives in charge are only making things worse.
Buffenbarger said there needs to be some form of regulation of the airlines to ensure that the public receives safe, reliable service.
There is too much at stake to let executives and their legacy of failure try and solve the industry’s problems. It would be difficult to find anyone outside of a small group of airline executives who expects to benefit from additional airline consolidation.
Click here to read Buffenbarger’s full testimony.
The pilots at Delta and Northwest are members of the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), and IAM represents Northwest Airlines ramp service employees, store clerks, customer service agents, reservation agents, flight simulator technicians and plant protection employees.
Earlier this week, 26 U.S. senators sent a letter to the CEOs of Delta and Northwest urging both parties to “demonstrate a genuine commitment to cooperative labor relations” and to remain neutral in representation elections. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who led the effort, said:
Delta and Northwest Airlines should honor the loyalty and hard work of their employees by immediately offering them a seat at the table in merger talks.
Last summer, members of AFA-CWA and the Air Line Pilots conducted an informational picket to demonstrate their anger over Northwest’s manipulation of the bankruptcy laws to allow $1 million bonuses for executives, while employees are being forced to take a 40 percent pay cut.
1 Comment
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Let’s not forget their pensions either. If the PBGC, Pension Board Guarantee Corporation takes their pensions over, the employee’s will be lucky if they get 10 cents on a dollar! Those over the age of fifty that are laid off will find it nearly impossible to find new jobs and will have to accept the new Republican retirement plan- work till you die!
I personally can feel their pain. It’s like being in the ocean surrounded by sharks and not knowing who will be taken down next. The uncertainty of which departments will remain and who will get the ax.
I worked for TWA 32 years and stand to collect $152 a month from the PBGC on my 65th birthday!
If the democrats can take the white house in November, the retirement laws under ERISA have to be rewritten to favor the worker and not allow Corporations to rob us of our retirement as is currently the case.