Delta Flight Attendants Speak Truth to Shareholder Meeting
This month, we went to the Delta Annual Shareholder Meeting with our siblings from the ramp and the mechanics organizing their unions with the IAM and the Teamsters to talk about Shareholder Proposition #6 — Adoption of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Policy.
We arrived in full gear and in uniform, ready to rally in support of Shareholder Proposal #6. This proposal would have required Delta management to respect our rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
The Shareholder Proposal received 33% support. That wasn’t enough to pass the resolution, but that level of support is significant, especially for the first time the resolution was brought to the shareholders.
Prior to the final closing of the vote, Sabrina Stratton representing the Amalgamated Bank made an impassioned argument in favor of the proposal. However, employee shareholders like ourselves weren't allowed to voice our support of the proposal to the Board until after the meeting had officially concluded—allowing Delta management to exclude our statements from the minutes and cut us out of the recording that is available on DeltaNet.
Despite some of us being in full Delta uniform, Delta management completely ignored us on their arrival. Is this how you treat Delta “Family?” (We already know, yes). Since we were ignored as they each arrived in their black cars, we decided to get loud to get their attention as they left.
Delta management did not even care to say hello, ask how we are doing, nor give us their regular, “thanks for all that you do.”
We have our legal rights to organize our union. This proposal would have further solidified those rights and forced management to stop spending tens of millions to deny us our rights and disrespect our contributions to our airline. We have the right to talk about our union at work, we have the right to sign union authorization cards in non-work areas, and we have the right to wear our AFA pin.
These rights have been acknowledged in writing by Delta’s legal department - you can read it here. In addition, Delta management reiterated their commitment to respecting our rights to organize our unions at Delta Air Lines. At the shareholder meeting, Delta management said, “we are very careful about what we say because we know what we can and cannot do.” Delta management also stated to shareholders that they take our legal rights seriously, and they continue to train all Delta managers about what they can and cannot do.
No one should be afraid to organize our union. We have rights. We have power. There are limits on what Delta management can do, and they know it. They cannot retaliate against us! We know they continue to illegally interfere through anti-union lunches in training, big anti-union signs in the lounge, and mass anti-union email communications, and we must organize our union urgently!
Join our campaign; this is our year to win. Sign your card and get your flying partners to sign one as well. Delta management does not care for us. Their “Delta Family” rhetoric is a pointed tactic used to keep us from taking and owning our power.
In Unity,
Kara and Tyler, ATL
Delta Flight Attendants, AFA Activists & Shareholders
(pictured here with Cruz & Holly, Delta AFA NYC)
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