Union organizers are rallying near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this week, as they push to organize workers at Delta Air Lines this year.
Atlanta-based Delta, long a target among unions representing flight attendants and ground workers, is facing renewed organizing campaigns, particularly in the run up to the November election.
The International Association of Machinists organizers see risk in a potential change to a Republican administration in the White House come January, which they fear would be less friendly to unions than the current pro-union administration of President Joe Biden.
“We know we got that little window,” said IAM organizer Charlie Hood. “It’s urgent for us to take advantage of what we have in that atmosphere now.”
But it’s not certain the IAM will get a vote on union representation before inauguration day on Jan. 20.
The IAM and other unions have been trying to organize workers at Atlanta-based Delta since 2010. To file for a union election, they must collect valid authorization cards from more than 50% of workers signed within the past year. That has proven to be a challenge for more than a decade.
While the rest of the airline industry is highly unionized, Delta is mostly non-union, with pilots as its only major unionized group. That has made the airline, with its home base in the union-averse South, a white whale for organized labor.
The IAM seeks to organize roughly 20,000 Delta baggage handlers, cargo and tower workers.
The campaigns at Delta have gone on for so long that some organizers have retired and others have died, Hood said. In a nod to them, those picketing near a Delta employee parking lot off Camp Creek Parkway on Wednesday afternoon wore shirts that read: “Standing on the shoulders of those who came before us.” Roughly 50 union organizers and members joined in the rally Wednesday, according to IAM.
“We’re here, 2024, fighting the same fight they were fighting 10 years ago,” Hood said.
The IAM plans to rally at the Terminal South curbside at Hartsfield- Jackson on Thursday afternoon, then gather at a union hall for a podcast show focused on their campaign hosted by Roland Martin.
“We feel that this is an opportunity for [the workers’] voice to be heard,” said Nicole Fears, IAM human rights director.
Organizers have said they have felt intimidated by Delta’s tactics to dissuade workers from unionizing, which Hood said workers will speak about that during the podcast Thursday evening.
“They have tried to instill a lot of fear,” said Delta ramp worker Amanda Goodman Berry. The company has had a campaign using the phrase “Don’t risk it. Don’t sign it” telling workers that they could lose time-off, pay and flexibility with a union and that union dues are a “hidden pay cut.”
Delta issued a statement saying: ”We believe every employee has the right to choose or reject union representation. Our direct relationship with employees has proven to be stronger, faster, and more effective in driving improvements, which is why Delta employees have repeatedly rejected union representation over the past 20 years.”
The union typically files for an election after it collects signed authorization cards representing well over a majority of the workforce it aims to represent, while the company has been urging employees not to sign the authorization cards.
Union organizers say they plan to continue their campaign, even if they don’t collect enough cards in time this year and it extends into the next presidential administration.
“We’d rather have a ( National Mediation) Board that’s more sympathetic to workers than not,” James Carlson, IAM air transport territory coordinator. But, he added, “We want to file as soon as we feel comfortable filing.”
It’s yet to be seen how much of a shift a future Trump administration would bring in the stance toward unions through the National Mediation Board. While Biden has been endorsed by the United Auto Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters head Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention this week.
The IAM and other unions seeking to organize flight attendants and mechanics at Delta have marshaled members of Congress to sign letters urging Delta to agree to remain neutral on union organizing, including 25 U.S. senators and more than 150 members of the U.S. House.
Several Democrats in Georgia’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, have written letters with milder language urging Delta to remain “a good faith partner” or encouraging all parties to follow the law.
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