The previous poster was making a joke of it. DL FAs aren't unionized and had recently gone through a vote a couple of months ago which the union was turned down. I hope for the sake of the new DL employees they will vote for no unionization...

Having just read through the 330 pages of the IAM contract for NW ground employees, I would agree with that assessment. Not all that impressed with what the IAM has to offer...

With NW Flight Attendants along with the 40% DL Flight Attendants who voted for a union, I would say that we stand a good chance of maintaining the AFA and bring it onto the DL property.

This will be a good day for labor! ^^^

Yes, 39.7% to be exact while in 2002 it was 29%. Interestingly enough the actual number of "for" votes in both elections were about the same (5,500 in 2002 vs 5,300 in 2008). In 2002 there were 19,000 FAs compared to Aprils count of 12,000. Sounds to me like the younger FAs are pulling for AFA while the older generation FAs say no...
If the merged DL gets unionized that is the day DL is doomed.

Actually, the AFA drive at DL is being spearheaded by the 25-30 year group.

How would unionizing the Flight Attendants doom DL? The Pilot's haven't sunk the carrier. Besides, DL isn't in great shape even with out the unions.

One of the first things once unionized at DL, is to fix the Flight Attendants pensions! It's worse than at NW.

And I thought the problem was the high fuel prices....


PS- I can't believe I read 2 and a half pages about FA uniforms!

Was talking to the LAX WC attendant and she said they would be in Delta uniforms at the beginning of the 2009.

FYI, NW new uniforms that'll never fly...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danbirc...7603446279709/

You answered your question with the first sentence of the second paragraph. Pensions (defined benefit plans) are an unsustainable benefits. An expansion of pension benefits will sink any company.

>>>>>And I thought the problem was the high fuel prices....

An interesting calculation in the Madison newspaper yesterday in answer to the question: "...on a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, how much would the average coach ticket need to be raised to cover the increased cost of fuel?

The answer was that at $3.91 per gallon the fuel cost per pax on a 757 would be $77.36 one-way. An increase of $1 per gallon would increase the cost $19.78.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/loca...osities/301627

The NW Flight Attendants pension was frozen in 2006. DL wants to change our pensions to match those of their Flight Attendants. The DL Flight Attendants pension is offset by Social Security when they reach 65. That doesn't happen with NW Flight Attendants. We get our full negotiated pensions when we retire and our Social Security.

Even if NW Flight Attendants lose union representation, our pensions stay intact. This is something that the older DL Flight Attendants discovering. While NW Flight Attendants become DL Flight Attendants, the DL Flight Attendants won't be equal to us in this respect. They're starting not to like it.

So to treat the DL Flight Attendants more fairly, they should at least not have to suffer under the offset.

The galley gossip is pretty off-base and misleading in this regard.

Both airlines have different retirement plans. While some NW employees near retirement may get more than equally tenured DL colleagues, the Delta Retirement Plan offers the majority of flight attendants better benefits, largely because it has not been frozen or terminated.

What may be most telling is that while the non-represented DL employees have suffered the same layoffs and wage reductions as the rest of the industry, they've continued to maintain the same level of benefits and have received wage increases at a much faster rate then if the were represented.

I don't know how you can say this is galley gossip, it's a fact. We were talking pensions.

The last raise that the DL Flight Attendants received was just 3%. After taxes, big whoop. Besides, the DL Flight Attendants aren't working with a contract. DL can and has taken away benefits of the Flight Attendants at the drop of a hat.

And by the way, calling my post galley gossip is both insulting and disrespectful.

Sorry, your union propaganda is based on distorted facts.

Can you tell us the last time NW flight attendants got a raise? Better yet, how about any represented flight attendants at a mainline, network carrier? Why should any employee wait 3-5 years for a new contract to get negotiated to get a raise or profit sharing?

Delta has stated (and demonstrated) that it will share its profits by bring its employee's wages up to market levels. It also offers a pension plan that continues to accrue benefits, which will provide greater benefit to future employees, not just the old ones who are long past retirement.

I don't remember the last raise, but have received a profit sharing check. And the difference in pay is only a couple of dollars at top pay.

Despite your disdain for older Flight Attendants, what we do is for Flight Attendants at every seniority which helps all new people hired.

DL is doing wonderful things for it's Flight Attendants now to keep AFA out. But every benefit you deem superior to unionized carriers can and has been taken away at one point or another. The Flight Attendants have no say.

One of the reasons the NW Flight Attendants contract was gutted so badly was to save jobs. NW wanted to outsource Flight Attendant positions to foreign nationals, because they work for a whole lot less than Americans. This goes back to Richard Anderson days at NW.

DL is still in the honeymoon stage with Anderson. After the merger and there are no unions, the outsourcing will begin.

I'm glad to see both opposite sides of an argument (and I'm especially thankful that regular employees like NWAFA are participating on this forum, since he/she is doing it on their own time & own dime), but if I were a mod I'd probably suggest to tone down even the subtle insults. This place shouldn't be too hostile for any differing points of view.