Union withdraws bid to organize Delta flight attendants

[Omaha Steve]

Source: USA Today

Ben Mutzabaugh

Delta Air Lines flight attendants won't be voting on whether to join a union after all. At least not this year.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said Monday it is postponing a drive to organize Delta's attendants. The union said it's doing so after it learned some worker authorization cards were submitted with "insufficient information or questionable signatures."

The union plans to renew its effort next year.

"By our calculation, the number of questionable cards makes our showing of interest borderline," the union said in a statement. "However, rather than waiting months for a determination by the NMB, we believe the best course of action is to avoid further delay and withdraw our current application, renew our organizing drive and file again twelve months from the date of the dismissal of our application, as is permitted by law."

FULL story at link.



(Photo: Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY)



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2015/04/06/union-withdraws-bid-to-organize-delta-flight-attendants/25371393/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. That's a shame

considering how large Delta has grown now with all the mergers...

[BojackFan]

3. I don't understand the "shame".

The story reads like the employees did not want to be represented by a union.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. The "shame" is

the potential issue with the cards that were turned in... not necessarily whether they "did not want to be represented by a union". I don't know what their authorization cards look like but depending on what they come up with as the number of "questionable signatures" - this seems to suggest the presence of some who are trying to sabotage the effort. Otherwise it may have been a simple issue of just not completing the form or not completing it correctly (thus potentially invalidating it), which suggests better instructions or more time to get the info to an acceptable state.

If businesses (or even government) treated workers fairly with a good balance pay, benefits, and working conditions, then there would really be no need for a union. But 100+ years of mistreatment and abuse has necessitated a consolidated "voice" on behalf of individual workers. Human nature dictates that problems do exist on both sides, but like the representative government that we have here in the U.S., the union serves in a similar fashion to speak on behalf of employees who generally don't have the time or wherewithal to do so individually, in a strong enough "voice" to be heard.

[SoapBox]

2. This was shocking and sad news...

Ugh...the company is already gloating.

[Recursion]

4. Lots of workers don't trust unions, unfortunately

And even more unfortunately the actions of several locals are partly to blame.

I don't know how relevant the "hall"-style unions are to the current economy; there are some sectors they work really well for (IBEW comes to mind), but the fact is a lot of unions like IAM, UAW, etc. just haven't been very effective at protecting workers lately (particularly younger workers -- "two-tier contracts, because solidarity is for people over 40!&quot . I don't know. Maybe the wobblies are right and industry-specific unions aren't the answer anymore. Though food service and retail are showing some gains in organizing; that may be a better place for it.