Contact the NMB, President Obama and Your Congressional Representatives. Today!
9,544 Delta Flight Attendants Have Spoken but AFA Refuses to Listen
In a recent email to pre-merger Northwest flight attendants, former AFA MEC President Janette Rook indicates that AFA intends to appeal the election results, simply because her side did not win. She states “The vast majority of the feedback from pre-merger Northwest flight attendants leaves no choice but to file interference charges. Our group overwhelmingly desired a legal contract and to preserve collective bargaining rights.”
In typical fashion, Janette not only writes in broad, non-specific terms, but she completely ignores the voice of the pre-merger Delta flight attendants, who comprise two thirds of our combined group. This election was, after all, about representing all the Delta flight attendants, not just the pre-merger Northwest flight attendants.
It’s time to end this AFA nonsense of interference in our professional lives. Pat Friend’s delay of the election (which could have happened two years ago) to stack the deck in her favor has cost every pre-merger Northwest flight attendant thousands of dollars in missed improvements in pay, benefits and quality of work life. Pre-merger Delta flight attendants have missed out on increased flying flexibility and the opportunity to transfer to new bases, and as a group we have all suffered from the divisive attacks and the fear-based campaign that AFA perpetuated.
All of us Delta flight attendants have spoken 9,544 times, but apparently Pat refuses to hear us, so we need to repeat ourselves. I encourage everyone to contact your Congressional Representatives, President Obama and the National Mediation Board and tell them the truth that AFA refuses to hear: that you cast your vote according to your own will and volition and not as the result of interference on the part of Delta leadership. Contact information is listed below.
Original letters and emails are always best. For a sample of letters already sent, I have attached them at the end of this email.
Contact Information:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
Email: comments@whitehouse.gov
Or fill out this online form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
For tips on writing the president, ink here: http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/presidents-email-address.htm?gclid=CPWSqKWuj6UCFcXs7QodHF7BMQ
National Mediation Board
Harry Hoglander, Chairman
Elizabeth Dougherty, Member
Linda Puchala, Member
National Mediation Board
1301 K Street NW, Suite 250 East
Washington, DC 20005-7001
Fax: 202-692-5082
Email: legal@nmb.gov
Members of Congress
Link here: to find contact information for your representatives. https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Sincerely,
Jose Arturo Ibarra
Thanks to those that wrote these letters.
Dear Chairman Harry Hoglander,
Member Linda Puchala,
and Member Elizabeth Dougherty:
I am a Delta Air Lines Flight Attendant, former Northwest Flight Attendant and I just recently voted NO in our representational election. At no time did I feel intimidated or harassed or otherwise forced to vote one way or another by my company. On the contrary, if anyone tried to harass me it was the Union approaching me and my peers at every opportunity asking us how we were going to vote. I voted based on my personal conclusions. I ask that you disregard the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) allegations of interference and allow us to move on with our lives. We waited patiently while you decided to change the voting rules making it easier for the Union to succeed. You presented us with a ballot that had two opportunities to vote for representation and only one opportunity to vote against it. Even with these odds, the majority with a resounding 94% turn out said NO. Please respect our decision as final and ask the AFA to accept the outcome as the democratic one that they lobbied so hard for. If you decide to overturn the election or revoke it, this will only paint you as a one sided organization with only one goal in mind - to undermine a democratic outcome in favor of one favoring the Union.
If you insist on calling another election for the Delta Flight Attendants and the next vote results in a win for the Union - what a hollow victory it will be for labor and a farcical exercise in labor relations by the National Mediation Board.
Respectfully,
###
Hello,
I'm writing today to express my grave concerns about interference in the recent election for Delta Air Lines Flight Attendants. I think if anyone is guilty of interference it is the National Mediation Board and the Association Of Flight Attendants. I thought the NMB was supposed to be a neutral party between unions and companies. The obvious bias of two former union presidents sitting on the board pretending to be neutral might be the biggest interference of all - especially since the voting rules were changed shortly after the AFA withdrew their application in our election last year - I wonder why? They wanted to stack the deck in their favor - a fact even the Wall Street Journal pointed out this week - and they STILL lost.
Obviously the AFA wanted to stack the deck in their favor in this election. Not to mention their attempts at spreading lies and mistruths about Delta management, the voting process, and a severely negative campaign - it is no wonder they lost this election - WE DONT WANT THEIR SERVICES. They only received 44% of the vote.
At no point in time did Delta management ever interfere with my right to vote or intimidate me into voting against the AFA. I am an adult with my own brain who can think for himself. I would think that the AFA would have a few intelligent people working over there - and yet they never actually sold themselves on WHY I should vote for them. They never provided any positive reasoning for me to elect them - the only thing they were good at was being negative about the company and anyone who didn't want their services as being intimidated or uneducated - highly offensive claims. Not only that but their actual work record isn't that impressive and come on - some of the grievances filed - especially the size 28 red dress - completely laughable.
Since the voting rules were changed if Delta is guilty of anything it is to inform everyone that the rules had in fact changed - I was personally alarmed that the NMB's own website had not changed the voting rules even after a MONTH the rules had been changed. To me that is interference in and of itself. The mere fact a computer pop up says the voting window is open on Delta computers and that one should vote should hardly constitute interference - wouldn't we call that encouragement? Don't we want people to vote? Delta merely ran an effective get out the vote campaign. Anything they ever distributed was information about the vote - or factual information to extinguish false information being circulated - none of which ever said HOW to vote. Now of course anyone with a seventh grade education could infer which way the company would prefer us vote - but they never actually verbalized it. I guess the AFA didn't want anyone to vote unless it was YES, silly me. I am more alarmed by the biased behaviors of the NMB and the AFA than that of Delta management.
After reading the interference charges made by the AFA in the 2008 election - I do sincerely hope they have something a bit more substantial than the company giving out facts, and communicating with us - a legal right they do in fact posess. The AFA had the voting rules changed and they still lost, this smells of nothing but a last ditch effort to circumvent the will of the voters by crying foul, when really nothing of the sort has happened - the voters have spoken and we request to be respected. I seriously doubt the AFA had all their interference charges ready had the vote been 300 votes in the other direction. Obviously the AFA won't respect us, so we kindly ask the NMB to respect the majority vote of no representation and to let us all move on in peace. The AFA lost for the third time. Period. End of Story. I urge the AFA to quit embarrassing themselves in front of the industry and I implore the NMB to avoid an equally large embarrassment by voiding the clear and distinct voice of Delta Flight Attendants.
Sincerely,
###
As a Delta flight attendant I am very pleased with the results of our AFA election that was concluded on NOV 3rd, 2010. I feel the majority have spoken and the results of the election should be respected by all. With that said in NO way did Delta AirLInes try to sway the vote. They were very professional in letting ALL Delta flight attendants know only that the "way" we vote under the new rules had changed and it was important for everyone to cast a vote. At no time did they ever say which way to vote. This is our third vote, the third time we have rejected representation from the AFA and I ask that it be respected without having to go thru another vote at this time. It is very stressful on the flight attendant group as a whole and is not necessary. The majority have spoken and even though it was close, it was still the majority. I have been with Delta for 27 years as a happy nonunion employee and it is my desire to have the right to stay that way. It is insulting that the AFA states that we were intimated by our company. We are all professionals with minds of our own. It was a private vote, so there was NO fear about how we voted. I ask that you please respect our vote.
Sincerely,
###
