NMB: Agrees With Flight Attendant Union ? Delta Election Merits Investigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2011
CONTACT: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586

WASHINGTON – The National Mediation Board has agreed with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA) that substantive evidence exists that Delta Air Lines interfered with a representation election of Delta Flight Attendants last year. AFA had filed charges of interference on behalf of Delta Flight Attendants.

“Delta Flight Attendants will finally have their day in court,” AFA International President Veda Shook said in announcing the decision by the NMB. “Delta management’s misconduct in this election was blatant and persistent – from daily emails to a barrage of misinformation sent in slick brochures to homes, to encouraging Flight Attendants to vote on company computers, where they could be monitored.”

In a letter from NMB General Counsel Mary L. Johnson, AFA and Delta were notified that an investigator would be in contact to interview both parties, and would conduct an on-site investigation to determine “whether the laboratory conditions were tainted.”

Flight Attendants got calls to their homes from supervisors, while Flight Attendants supporting AFA were denied the ability to talk with other Flight Attendants, even in the lobbies of layover hotels.

“Delta management has not denied the substance of any of our charges,” Shook said. “Instead, they have disrupted lives by denying Flight Attendants the right to a fair election and delaying the integration process.”

AFA is also supporting pre-merger Northwest Flight Attendants who earlier this year filed suit against Delta Air Lines for discrimination based on the fact that they were union members.

Shook said AFA would cooperate fully with the investigation, and urged Delta management to stop its delaying tactics. “Flight Attendants are standing up for democracy and equality,” she said. “In 65 years at the Association of Flight Attendants, we have never backed away from seeking justice and equality for Flight Attendants. We remain steadfast in supporting the Delta Flight Attendants who contact us every day and urge us to continue to support them in their struggle for democracy, equality and a voice at work.”

For over 65 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants at 21 airlines come together to form AFA, the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org