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Flight attendants union sues Delta over seniority plan
By KELLY YAMANOUCHI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Association of Flight Attendants has filed suit against Delta Air Lines in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to prohibit Delta from carrying out a seniority integration process before its flight attendants vote on union representation.
Now that Atlanta-based Delta has closed its merger with Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines, many employees at the combined carrier, including flight attendants, will likely vote on whether to unionize. Flight attendants at Northwest are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants union, while flight attendants at Delta are not unionized.
The airline and the flight attendants union are each taking positions on the seniority integration matter that could influence the outcome of the union representation vote. One key issue is whether Delta flight attendants would benefit more from a seniority integration process, dubbed “fair and equitable,” according to federal law, which Delta is using, versus the union’s seniority integration process, called “date of hire.”
The flight attendants union said Monday in a message to its members that “Delta’s premature actions are designed to undermine AFA.”
In the court filing on the seniority integration process, the union argues that Delta is unlawfully interfering with the rights of employees to choose their representative for organizing and bargaining without interference, influence or coercion by Delta.
The union also states in the filing that by starting the seniority integration process before the union representation vote, “Delta seeks to force AFA to take a position which may benefit pre-merger Northwest flight attendants to the detriment of the unrepresented Delta work force and thereby influence the unrepresented Delta flight attendants in an effort to induce them not to vote for AFA in the event of a representation dispute,” which the union said amounts to unlawful interference with the choice of a bargaining representative.
Delta spokesman Kent Landers said the company believes the AFA’s position is “wrong as a matter of law and does not serve the interest of our combined flight attendant group.”
AFA attorney Ed Gilmartin argued that Delta “is trying to use holding the fair and equitable seniority integration as a carrot to the Delta flight attendants to follow this procedure instead of AFA’s, with the not-so-subtle message that you’ll do better under fair and equitable.”
For flight attendants, seniority can affect the flights they work and what trips they get, among other things, and is “one of the big issues for this merger for flight attendants from both sides,” said Joanne Smith, Delta’s senior vice president of inflight service.
By KELLY YAMANOUCHI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Association of Flight Attendants has filed suit against Delta Air Lines in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to prohibit Delta from carrying out a seniority integration process before its flight attendants vote on union representation.
Now that Atlanta-based Delta has closed its merger with Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines, many employees at the combined carrier, including flight attendants, will likely vote on whether to unionize. Flight attendants at Northwest are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants union, while flight attendants at Delta are not unionized.
The airline and the flight attendants union are each taking positions on the seniority integration matter that could influence the outcome of the union representation vote. One key issue is whether Delta flight attendants would benefit more from a seniority integration process, dubbed “fair and equitable,” according to federal law, which Delta is using, versus the union’s seniority integration process, called “date of hire.”
The flight attendants union said Monday in a message to its members that “Delta’s premature actions are designed to undermine AFA.”
In the court filing on the seniority integration process, the union argues that Delta is unlawfully interfering with the rights of employees to choose their representative for organizing and bargaining without interference, influence or coercion by Delta.
The union also states in the filing that by starting the seniority integration process before the union representation vote, “Delta seeks to force AFA to take a position which may benefit pre-merger Northwest flight attendants to the detriment of the unrepresented Delta work force and thereby influence the unrepresented Delta flight attendants in an effort to induce them not to vote for AFA in the event of a representation dispute,” which the union said amounts to unlawful interference with the choice of a bargaining representative.
Delta spokesman Kent Landers said the company believes the AFA’s position is “wrong as a matter of law and does not serve the interest of our combined flight attendant group.”
AFA attorney Ed Gilmartin argued that Delta “is trying to use holding the fair and equitable seniority integration as a carrot to the Delta flight attendants to follow this procedure instead of AFA’s, with the not-so-subtle message that you’ll do better under fair and equitable.”
For flight attendants, seniority can affect the flights they work and what trips they get, among other things, and is “one of the big issues for this merger for flight attendants from both sides,” said Joanne Smith, Delta’s senior vice president of inflight service.