AFA-CWA Files Interference Charges Against Delta; Seeks Rerun Election

AFA-CWA filed formal interference charges with the National Mediation Board this week against Delta Air Lines, charging that the airline used intimidation and other unlawful tactics to coerce workers and influence the vote during the union election among 20,000 flight attendants. Flight attendants came within 328 votes of winning an AFA-CWA voice.

In its filing, AFA-CWA said Delta compromised the secrecy of the ballot by urging flight attendants to vote on company-controlled work computers that management could track. Hundreds of Delta/Northwest flight attendants submitted reports outlining the tactics management used to unlawfully influence the election. These included excessive surveillance by supervisors, and repeated phone calls to flight attendants’ personal phones.

“Delta and Northwest flight attendants deserve the opportunity to freely participate in an election without being intimidated by management and heavy-handed efforts to keep them from gaining a voice,” said AFA-CWA President Pat Friend. “Delta management launched the largest anti-union campaign in history and spared no expense in attempting to destroy the collective bargaining rights that Northwest flight attendants have worked to maintain for over 60 years. We now call on the NMB to conduct an exhaustive investigation of these charges and hold Delta executives accountable for their actions,” she said.

The NMB can order a re-run election if it finds there is sufficient evidence to support AFA-CWA’s charges that Delta’s tactics interfered with flight attendants’ ability to participate in a fair and free election.

You can support the Delta flight attendants by signing the petition to CEO Richard Anderson. The petition calls on Anderson to respect workers' right to freely organize and bargain collectively in the likely revote among flight attendants and in future union elections.