Jul 1 2010
IAM starts process to represent Delta employees
On Thursday, the new National Mediation Board rule that makes it easier for unions to win representation elections at airlines went into effect.
And on Thursday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said it is seeking a representation election at Delta Air Lines.
The IAM wants to represent Delta’s fleet service and passenger service employees. It has asked the NMB to rule that Delta and the carrier it merged with in 2008, Northwest Airlines, are a single carrier. The union said the effort covers more than 30,000 employees.
“The Machinists Union is still investigating the single carrier status of stock clerks and office & clerical employees,” the IAM said in its announcement.
“The election process will give Delta workers an opportunity to determine their future,” IAM general vice president Robert Roach Jr. said. “Delta employees deserve to be represented by an organization whose sole purpose is to protect workers.”
As of Dec. 31, the IAM represented 10,087 Delta employees, most of them from Northwest Airlines: 9,407 fleet service, passenger service, and office/clerical employees, 38 simulator technicians and 242 stock clerks. The other 400 IAM-represented employees were maintenance employees at Delta’s Comair subsidiary.
Both the IAM and the Association of Flight Attendants dropped their efforts to unionize Delta employees last year when the National Mediation Board proposed a change to the election rules.
Until Thursday, the NMB required a union to get “aye” votes from a majority of the employees eligible to vote. Employees who didn’t vote were counted as “no” votes.
The new rule requires unions to get “aye” votes from a majority of the employees who cast votes. Employees who don’t vote won’t be included in the calculation.
Under the old rules, Delta flight attendants voted against joining the AFA in 2001 and 2008.
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