Greetings,

DELTA FLIGHT ATTENDANTS NOT JOINING AFA

By Melanie Seymour

MEC Communications Chairperson

The effort was great, but the results disappointing. Delta Flight Attendants will not be a part of our union. While the majority of those who voted chose to join the union, only 40 percent of Flight Attendants actually cast a vote. A non-vote was counted as a no vote.

According to Patricia Friend, AFA International President, the management’s anti-union scare tactics contributed to the low participation. “The conditions surrounding the election were neither free nor fair,” she says.

However, the work and time put in by our own Alaska Flight Attendants should be commended. Some traveled far to deliver their positive message of how unionizing would give the Delta Flight Attendants a voice in their company. Others spread the same message by manning phone banks.

Making outstanding contributions to the effort were PDX FA, John Cornelius, who lived in a hotel in Atlanta for about 10 months, ANC FA Robin Niemuth who was in Salt Lake City on and off for 6 weeks. LAX FAs Sherrijon Gaspard and Lisa Hall as well as PDX FA Steven Maller, and Deanna Hill (MEC Vice President) all worked tirelessly to help Delta unionize.

Although the final count left the AFA more than1000 votes shy of success, John Cornelius says everyone involved should take pride in their efforts. "The Alaska Airline employees who gave their time to this cause have been amazing." He continues, "I think that spending a year on this campaign has made me realize so many things we take for granted. These Delta activists worked under the fear of losing their jobs. The behavior of their management is something that we would never tolerate at Alaska."

There appears to be one more opportunity. According to Mark Stell, Delta Flight Attendant and AFA-CWA activist "Going into this election it was clear that Delta Flight Attendants wanted a union. We deserve a voice in our future and will not stop until we get a seat at the table. There is light at the end of the tunnel however and that is the second chance we will get to become members of AFA-CWA when this merger is finalized."

As Sherrijon put it, "It's really powerful to see all the airlines come together" Let's hang on to that picture and get ready for round two