Originally Posted by
DiverDave
When you acquire a company, you acquire its obligations and contracts. When DL and NWA merged, Delta became responsible for all NWA contracts. That included labor contracts.
The AFA was entitled to have a representation election.
There was an obligation to hold an election on representation - with the timing set by the union(s), not company - only because the union-represented fraction of the combined labor force of the specific work group exceeded a legal threshold. Were now FA-union-free Delta to acquire a significantly smaller airline - let's say Alaska Airlines - there would be no obligation to conduct an election: the AS FA's would automatically lose union representation. The whole 'DL became responsible for all NW contracts' line of thinking oversimplifies the relevant labor law.
Last edited by 3Cforme; Nov 20, 2011 at 2:38 am