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Greetings, Hopefully Delta will proceed with identical haste in negotiating job security and pay increases for the flight attendants after the election. If we are successful in maintaining or bargaining rights, for the first time in 15 years we will have the leverage necessary to solidify the types of improvements being negotiated by the other two unionized groups at Delta.
In Unity, Shawn Fivecoat
Delta, NWA unions OK pactNew contract for flight dispatchers would clear another major labor hurdle for airline merger.Nathan Hurst / The Detroit NewsDelta Air Lines Inc. announced Thursday a tentative agreement between two unions representing flight dispatchers at Delta and its recently acquired Northwest Airlines Inc. The pact between Delta's Professional Airline Flight Control Association and Northwest's Transportation Workers Union, which collectively represent about 360 flight dispatchers and controllers at the two airlines -- 160 at Northwest, 188 at Delta -- represents the second major labor hurdle cleared by Delta as it seeks to merge operations with Northwest. Kevin Thompson, president of the Delta union, said he was glad to quickly complete the pact with his Northwest counterparts. "Our goal was to get this done in a fair and equitable manner," Thompson said. "On both sides, we wanted to have everything wrapped up for our members as soon as possible, and now we do." The new contract, which still needs to be ratified by rank-and-file union members, provides for "both financial and job security" and will run through 2013, Thompson said. Members also will need to vote on which union, Delta's PAFCA or Northwest's TWU, will represent them under the new contract. Delta and Northwest together make up the world's largest air carrier, after they formally tied the knot on Oct. 29 following the announcement of an all-stock merger in April. The companies secured a combined contract between their two pilots union chapters, both members of the Air Line Pilots Association, before the merger was announced. The pilots also settled on a seniority list integration plan on Monday, which was decided by a panel of arbitrators. Besides the pilots, Delta's dispatchers are the only other group of employees to be unionized at the Atlanta-based carrier. Five more Northwest unions represent workers who aren't unionized at Delta; two unions representing flight attendants and ground workers at Northwest have so far rebuffed offers to discuss seniority list integration until a representation election is held for the entire group. Susan Elliott, a spokeswoman for Delta, said the company hopes the union resolution will bring other Northwest workgroups to the bargaining table. |
