WE’LL TELL YOU WHAT COLOR YOUR SHIRT IS!

DELTA’S VERSION OF THE ‘TRUTH’ RUNS COUNTER TO THE FACTS
A ‘DIRECT RELATIONSHIP’ OFTEN ENDS IN ABRUPT ‘DIVORCE’

A few months ago a disciplinary hearing was held in a Delta city very similar to the one you are about to read. Only the names and details were slightly changed to protect the idiots involved!

Director Ben Dover: Mr. Chapel, we have called you to this hearing to discuss your ‘unprofessional’ conduct and writings. We take all disciplinary action kind of seriously and need you to understand the severity of your situation. If you have a recording device you must turn it off. Later in the day, we will decide what you really said to us and don’t want an actual recording of the facts to get in the way of our ‘truth.’

Agent Chapel: What situation?

Corporate Security head Al Wakyu: Don’t play dumb with us, I have a phone book and know how to use it! It won’t even leave a mark. First let me tell you how smart I am and how easily I can break you. You’ll be crying for your momma in minutes!

H R Specialist Kinda Mannish: Lighten up Al! Stop rolling up the phone book and calm down. Mr. Chapel understands what this is all about. His writings offend so many of us at Delta and the facts he presents don’t match the version of the ‘truth’ we tell our agents. It’s vital for our future that the ‘truth’ that we ‘package’ and spoon feed to our employees not be challenged, especially by actual facts. It makes us look like… well…like we are liars and stuff. I am so offended by people like Mr. Chapel who won’t accept the big picture….

Director: Ms. Mannish, you’re wandering again. Please try and stay focused! What we do here today will determine Agent Chapel’s future and we need to concentrate. Agent Chapel please confess to your misdeeds right now in writing. We will tell you what to write and you will find us to be very helpful in that regard. Do what we say and the ‘truth will set you free.’

Chapel: I want an attorney and a witness. I’ve got nothing to say to you idiots! Bite me!

Al Wakyu: Let me smack the SOB!

Director Over: It’s time for you to leave, Al. We’ll take it from here (door slams!) What’s it going to be Mr. Chapel? We’re waiting on your confession. I have already had it written for you; please just sign it so we can all go to lunch (minus you) on the corporate credit card. You’ll feel better; it’s kind of like Confession. I’m not Catholic but that’s what I hear.

Chapel: Are you people for real? How on earth did we ever make money! So this is what it means to have a ‘direct relationship’ with Delta management?! I’ll tell you what! You can read my answer to your silly accusations on the blog tomorrow.

Director Over: What happens in Delta hearings is secret; if you write about them we will get you eventually. Stuff your facts, your desires and your dreams for a better working environment for all Delta employees! It’s important that we maintain control by keeping facts from our workers. Our ‘truth’ however skewed, gives people false hope and we are the best at supplying that! And that’s the truth!

Chapel: I’ll be passing out pamphlets chuck full of facts long after most of you are sent packing. Long live the union cause and those who risk all to bring real truth and accurate facts to those who will decide.

Director Over: You don’t get it, do you Chapel? What color do you think your shirt is today?

Chapel: You can see that I have on a blue shirt! You people are strange.

Director Over: Actually everyone in this room except you will say that you have on a red shirt. That’s what we will put in the report. There are no witnesses except us and no other proof. Our word is the ‘truth.’ We can and will destroy you and others with whatever version of our ‘truth’ we decide to write. That’s how we at Delta have always done our business and by keeping out the unions we will ensure that facts and equal treatment don’t enter in to Delta’s world.

Chapel: The vote is coming and folks like you won’t survive the scrutiny that will follow! Enjoy your power while you can.

Machinists Withdraw Delta Fleet Service Single Carrier Application

Reprinted from http://www.iam143.org/

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today withdrew the single carrier application it filed with the National Mediation Board (NMB) on behalf of Delta Air Lines' and Northwest Airlines' fleet service employees on August 13, 2009. The withdrawal is in response to Delta's insistence that fleet service representation issues be resolved at the same time as passenger service and office & clerical employees, whose single carrier applications have yet to be filed.

"Delta and Northwest have spent the last three months vigorously litigating their position that the IAM cannot submit an application for fleet service employees separately from the office & clerical and passenger service employees," said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. "But Delta and Northwest are not yet a single carrier for representation purposes in the office & clerical and passenger service classifications. If the three separate crafts or classes must be investigated simultaneously, as Delta and Northwest insist, then the two carriers are not yet a single transportation system for fleet service either and the IAM must withdraw its application."

"The two airlines have also repeatedly and falsely accused the Machinists Union of not caring about the employees for which we have not yet filed a single carrier application," continued Roach. "Based on Delta's efforts to poison the mindset of employees, none of the employees can have a fair election at this time. The IAM looks forward to filing single carrier applications for fleet service, office & clerical and passenger service classifications when the taint of Delta's conduct has dissipated and each of those groups on Delta and Northwest are functioning as a single transportation system for representation purposes."

A ruling by the NMB that the two carriers are operating as a single carrier for a particular classification must occur before union representation issues can be resolved for that classification. The IAM's previous single carrier applications for Delta and Northwest flight simulator technicians and plant protection employees are not affected by the withdrawal of its fleet service application. The IAM will also file for stores clerks separately when both Northwest and Delta stores groups are operating as a single carrier for purposes of representation.

PRODUCT NOT PACKAGING!

DELTA’S MANAGEMENT FOCUS IS STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE
EUPHEMISMS ARE DESIGNED TO FOOL THOSE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

Politicians of all strips are often guilty of masking a bad idea with a good slogan. We as a nation are seemingly enamored with a catchy phrase and rally around inspirational slogans.

A truly bad idea can often times be run right down the middle of America if the name of the ‘product’ being sold to the public is strong enough or has dazzle and roles off the tongue with pizzazz and style.

Who can argue with a military campaign called “Operation Just Cause” or question a military strike using phrases such as “smart bombs” or “precision bombing.” We all know that the world is just a bit more complex than the simple descriptive vernacular that the worlds’ various militaries might use or governments might decide to engage in.

Can you image what might have happened to the popular support of our last war had the politicians or generals decided to name the campaign “Operation Never Ending” or “Engagement Poorly Planned?”

We in the union campaign are often accused of being the purveyors of bad news or gloom and doom by our detractors who call us names because we don’t rally around Delta’s management team and support the ‘product’ by being loyal to those who do the ‘packaging.’

We take issue with that description of our efforts and want all Delta employees to know that we support our management team when they have good ideas and include all of us in the successful implementation of their plans. We happen to believe that a well compensated and adequately benefited employee makes for a dedicated and loyal ‘soldier’ in our battle to compete with the other carriers. We know that union employees all around the airline world are partners in the process of providing a product that flyers and customers are willing and glad to buy.

We cringe when our management team uses slogans and euphemisms to mask an ever increasing inferior product and only question them when they don’t tell the truth about the value unions have provided carriers and passengers over the years in the airline world.

It’s just a simple fact that the more you take care of your employee the more likely your customer will be happy. Again, Southwest is a gleaming and shining example of the ‘product’ matching the ‘packaging.’ Their passengers know what is being offered and they are hardly ever disappointed in the final result.

When Delta tells its employees to give our “unique culture” a try for a year without the ‘burden’ of unions getting in the way of a “direct relationship” between management and employees, this is the worst example of bad packaging masking the truth. No union has ever stopped a single employee from approaching any manager with a request or question.

The truth is that Delta wants a direct relationship without unions so that they can change, alter or amend downward our benefits and pay as they see fit without interference or answering to anyone. Did we mention also to be able to terminate our relationship with the company without cause on a moment’s notice? That is the ‘unique relationship’ that Delta wants to maintain with you. Let’s don’t let them fool us with catchy slogans and phrases; let’s unionize and by doing so, strengthen our airline with measurable results not meaningless words!

CHICKENS DON’T CARE

WIN AND LIVE TOGETHER OR DIE ALONE
OUR FUTURE REQUIRES LOOKING AFTER ONE ANOTHER

Years ago when I was a young adult living in the South Pacific I was invited to a chicken dinner. When I arrived for the evening dinner I was surprised to find out that part of the preparation for the meal was for me to pick out a couple of plump birds for the plucking.

Picking out a couple of ‘hapless victims’ was the easy part; dispatching them was a bit more challenging but necessary and with some regret I did the dirty deed. What I noticed about those chickens that weren’t chosen taught me a lesson in ‘chicken nature.’ As long as they weren’t picked up to be plucked, they didn’t seem to care much what happened to their fellow chickens.

They were oblivious to the whole ritual. I think back to those chickens each time Delta says that sacrificing some will save us all. Each time Delta has closed cities or done away with departments and jobs over the years, the thinking from fellow Delta employees has always been the same; well, at least I still have a job! We don’t seem to care or even worry when jobs go away and we walk away from the ‘night’s meal’ glad we weren’t on the menu.

Here’s one almost certain fact; sooner or later we will be served up on a platter if we think we can survive Delta’s managerial miscues and future plans individually. We will be sacrificed and those left to carry on will breathe a sigh of relief and probably won’t care about us. It is a weakness of the Delta workforce and one that has been exploited for decades by our management team.

To survive this economy and this aggressive and money gluttonous management team requires that we change our thinking and our individual survival instincts and strengthen our position by starting to care about each other. Our perspective shouldn’t be thinking about keeping our individual jobs but in realizing saving a department through unionization will likely secure all of our futures and our collective jobs.

The ‘unique culture’ that Richard Anderson talks about and inherited is our almost serene and silent compliance to whatever Delta management dictates. This ‘attribute’ that most Delta employees seem to have in their DNA is a major collective character flaw going forward and this CEO will exploit our ‘culture’ to achieve victory and then not risk another union fight in the future by moving against all of us should we lose this union campaign.

We win now or no matter how you feel about unionization; no matter your loyalty to the Widget or how you vote in the coming election we will all be scooped up and ‘served’ for dinner.

He has done it in the past when he could and was only stopped by strong unions with iron-clad contracts in the past. This management team will not differentiate between those that supported them and those that didn’t. The ramp will be completely farmed out or forever changed into jobs no one with a family and obligations can afford to keep. It’s time to care for one another; don’t be a chicken! Let’s unionize!

Seniority Is Everything

For union members at NWA seniority rules almost all aspects of our work lives. It determines when we take our vacations, what jobs we do, whether we get a promotion or whether we get a new job in a new city. Seniority is literally the glue that holds the union together. It is the fairest way of deciding questions in the workplace.

Seniority cuts across favoritism. Without seniority, management gets to decide who does what job. Favoritism is toxic to building a culture of solidarity in the workplace. Favoritism creates an atmosphere friendly to management, to deal making, to worker back stabbing worker to gain some favor. It can tip the balance of power in favor of management quickly. It creates fear.

Although overtime is not regulated by seniority, but by equality of distribution, it is another example of regulation that favors workers. Our union stewards and Shop Committee carefully monitor overtime to make sure that it is distributed with reasonable equality. At the end of the year, the Company must pay money to those workers who did not get an opportunity to work OT. Imagine if overtime was handed out at the whim of a manager, as opposed to an overtime list.

At Delta Air Lines (subject to change at any time) seniority does determine some conditions of work, such as vacation and work area. But many questions are totally in management hands; promotions, station to station bids, overtime, whether you work in a bin or on transfers. Pretty important stuff.

This is not to say that deals are not cut between management and workers at NWA. Sometime workers are passed over for overtime illegally. Sometime managers try to use needs of service to justify any action they want. And we fight those actions on a regular basis. We try to create a culture of fairness and solidarity.

Seniority (as opposed to favoritism) plays a key part in creating an atmosphere where we are not afraid of managers. Read what Brian Vaughn, a 20 year ramp worker at Delta, had to say to his coworkers at Delta about his visit to our ramp in MSP several months ago.

He said, “I have to admit that it was a little unusual for me to talk about union stuff without some form of management telling me to leave the break room and take my union literature with me. But not in a union break room. I spoke freely. I answered any questions asked. And the guys and ladies at NWA were not afraid to ask anything. They weren’t afraid of the big bad supervisor. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!! You will enjoy seeing the same thing!!!! There is a whole different world coming your way.”

Richard Anderson and friends don’t think this is beautiful. They think a “direct relationship”, where they hold all the cards and we hold none, is beautiful.

Vote Union, Vote IAM

A Fairy Tale?

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the far away Kingdom of Deltonia, lived the mighty King Richard, descended from the House of Lorenzo. For years Richard and his Court had schemed to bring Deltonia and the Northwest Kingdom under his reign, thus bringing him and his henchmen untold riches and power.

Finally he was successful. But to consolidate his power he had to bring the people of the Northwest Kingdom, known as unionistas, under control. Over the years they had developed a tradition of speaking their minds and enjoyed democracy. By uniting together they had even gained the right to bargain with the Royal Family for higher wages and more benefits.

Once the merger of the Kingdoms was complete, the people of Deltonia began to notice disturbing changes under the rule of King Richard. In the past, they had been ruled by more benevolent kings who had given them much of what the unionistas had so that certain ideas would not become popular in the Kingdom. The cause of the unionistas began to take hold. Some, who spoke openly in favor of these ideas, were banished from the Realm. In spite of an atmosphere of fear and intimidation the unionista cause grew stronger.

Elections for King were possible in Deltonia. But the King had enforced a strange law, used in no other land, which proclaimed that all citizens who did not vote were counted for the King. This law made it almost impossible to unseat the King. To make matters worse, the King told his subjects they should not vote. In this atmosphere many simply sat the elections out.

Many thought the law was unfair, so the Great Court was petitioned for a change. You see, in most other lands decisions were made by those who chose to participate, not by a King and not by those who stayed silent.

King Richard became furious. He accused the unionistas of trying to undermine the Kingdom and of consorting with Dragons. He said it was unfair to change the rules because they had been in force for so long. Most in the Kingdom knew King Richard was angry because his total control was being threatened. If the rules were changed it was a near certainty the unionistas would win and he would have to share his wealth and power with all the people.

The Great Court listened to the arguments made by both sides. On the one hand were the unionistas, thousands and even millions of them who knew that the request for a change was fair and would advance the cause of democracy. On the other hand were the Kings of Unitedalia, Americana, Mesabaland, Comaironia. They resisted with all their might. If the unionistas were successful, they believed, the very foundation of control would be eroded.

In the end the unionistas prevailed against great odds. The laws were changed. The election was won and King Richard was forced to share power and wealth with his people. In the next several years many other Kingdoms followed suit. And they lived happily ever after.

Bring the NMB Rules Into The 21st Century

On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, Richard Anderson (along with the airline industry's lobbying arm, the Air Transport Association) issued a statement vehemently condemning any change in the National Mediation Board's Election Manual to provide that a union winning the majority of votes cast in a representation election be certified as the representative of the craft and class.

This is not a radical concept. Each of us should ask: Why then are Delta Air Lines executives and their lobbyist so upset and concerned about having the majority of the votes cast determine the winner? In fact, this is the way every union election is run outside of the railroad and airline industries. It is also the way every election in the United States is run at the municipal, state and federal levels. It is the American system of democracy, so why has Richard Anderson publicly opposed this issue?

Delta is desperately fighting the Rule change because in the past Delta Air Lines has poured millions of dollars into suppressing the vote of their employees to avoid unionization at all costs, and they were successful at it. In past elections, they directed their employees to tear up or mutilate their ballots and simply not vote. Their blatantly antidemocratic conduct was rewarded, and they beat back several organizing drives under the current outdated NMB rule. The rule is unique in America and maybe the world—because to be certified an airline union must not only win a majority of the votes cast, but more than 50% of the employees in the craft and class must have voted or there will be no union, no matter how many votes the union received. The Rule is outdated and unfair for all of us.

It is amazing that the executives at Delta Air Lines would demonize labor for asking that the rule be changed. Delta executives must have a short memory. About a year ago, the very same executives at Delta Air Lines petitioned the NMB to change the rule to make it even more difficult for a union to win certification. They urged that the Rule be changed so that in order for a union to win representation it must get a "super majority," or what it called more than a substantial majority. Suddenly, Richard Anderson has the gall to criticize the IAM, AFA and all of transportation labor for proposing a rule that would, in fact, make the process more democratic for each of us.

The NMB's policy was first applied nearly 75 years ago but is no longer valid in the modern age. In 1934, the NMB began to apply the rule in the railroad industry but acknowledged that there was no real legal basis for it. With today's multiple and nearly instantaneous means of electronic communications, along with the NMB's own electronic voting, its rationale has gone the way of the steam engine. It is the position of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Department, as well as dozens of other labor organizations, that the Board's policy must be updated to meet the realities of the 21st century and restore democracy to the process. Accordingly, we have joined with all other unions in the transportation industry to ask the NMB to change its policy as set forth in their Election Manual to provide that the union that obtains a majority of the votes cast in a representation election shall be certified, as occurs in every other industry, including the public sector. This is the American way. It is time to level the playing field for ALL working men and women in the aviation industry.

In solidarity,

Stephen M. Gordon

President/Directing General Chair