Voting underway for Delta Air Lines ground workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4649

By Barb Kucera, Workday editor
14 October 2010

BLOOMINGTON - Some 14,000 Delta Air Lines fleet service workers began voting Thursday whether to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

A second group of 700 stock and stores employees will start voting Oct. 25, the union announced. The IAM is waiting for the National Mediation Board, the federal agency that administers union representation elections in the airline industry, to schedule a vote for more than 16,000 Delta passenger service employees.

Results of the fleet service election will be announced Nov. 18; results of the stocks and stores election Nov. 22.

The votes by ground workers coincide with an election among 20,000 flight attendants on whether to join the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Results are expected Nov. 3.

The representation elections are occurring because Northwest Airlines, a unionized carrier, merged with Delta, which was largely non-union. The merger took place two years ago but only recently did the National Mediation Board certify that Delta was operating as a single carrier. Because workers are spread out over many locations, the elections are being conducted by phone and Internet.

Making the case

While the flight attendants are operating a phone bank to campaign for the union, the IAM has taken the unusual step of running television and radio ads in key cities served by Delta, including the Twin Cities, Atlanta, Memphis, Detroit, Salt Lake City and New York.

FULL story at link.