Delta workers accuse airline of ‘culture of fear’ amid attempts to unionize

Workers at Delta Air Lines are currently holding union organizing drives, citing tough working conditions in the US airline industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and stagnant wages despite the airline making hefty profits. The unions are in the process of collecting a majority of union authorization cards to merit a union election with the National Mediation Board, announcing a joint collective effort several weeks ago. Flight attendants are organizing with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, ramp agents with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and mechanics with Teamsters. Delta Air Lines has aggressively opposed unionization over the years. The company has the lowest percentage of workers currently represented by a labor union among major US airlines, currently at around 20% of more than 80,000 employees at the company. Kip Hedges, a former Delta Air Lines employee and current union organizer with IAM, explained that a previous union organizing drive before the pandemic wasn’t successful in obtaining enough union authorization cards for an election, but the new effort has taken off. Hedges cited a recent surge in union support across the US, grueling working conditions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of inflation on stagnant wages while unionized pilots at Delta Air Lines recently won a contract that included a pay raise of 34% over four years. “This whole idea of frontline and essential workers permeated into the atmosphere and I think that is having an impact on what Delta workers are thinking about,” said Hedges. “A huge issue for Delta workers is short staffing on the ramp. We used to have breaks between flights that allowed your body to recuperate a little bit. Breaks are shorter, they’re less frequent and arbitrary discipline is a factor in all of this.”<br/>