Delta AFA Flight Attendant Hotline 4/23/2007

Today is Monday, April 23rd and this is an updated hotline message for all Delta Air Lines flight attendants. SAS based flight attendant and AFA supporter, Mark Stell reporting...

Just How Important Is Our System Seniority List?

Last week I went up to the supervisor’s desk in CVG and asked to see the Delta System Seniority List. I’ve been working with the Delta AFA Steering Committee to whittle down our database of Delta flight attendants (remember when we had almost 20,000 flight attendants) and I was hoping to verify whether some of our colleagues were still working for Delta. You can only imagine my surprise when I was told by a CVG supervisor that no such list was available. I was then told by the CVG Scheduling Specialist that only a base seniority listed existed -- and that he hadn’t seen a system seniority list since the last furlough. While this may be the rhetoric reserved for union activist flight attendants like myself, it’s obvious that Delta IFS management wants to keep this list a closely guarded secret.

So, here’s the question of the day: Why exactly is management so possessive of OUR list? Are they afraid we’re going to discover some huge breach of system seniority? Are they worried we’ll start noticing discrepancies in how monthly bids, vacations, base transfers or leaves are awarded? What’s really odd in this era of "self-management” is: you’d think they would appreciate the help catching seniority snafus. My only guess is they don’t want us to have any control or independence. They want us to be reliant on them for every piece of information. Publicly, they use the “privacy” card to justify keeping our system list from us, but then you have to ask, how do our Delta pilots keep from violating the privacy of their union members when they post their seniority list(s) right on the DeltaNet? And what exactly is "private” about the fact that I am a Delta flight attendant, I am based in San Diego, my employee number is 563750 and my seniority number is 6120? Good grief!

What's All This Fuss About Representation?

Another question I’d really love to get a straight answer to one day is: Why exactly is Delta management so opposed to unions? Isn’t Delta Air Lines a member to a multitude of organizations where they pay dues or fees to be represented? Why exactly does Delta belong to the Air Transport Association? Why does Delta pay for legal representation? Why does Delta spend millions of dollars for consultants to advise them on almost every decision they make? They do it because it usually makes good business sense! You also don’t hear many Delta employees complain about our management hiring these “outsiders” or these “3rd parties” because we don’t feel threatened by their presence.

I wish I could say the same for our management when I hear them sound the alarm bells regarding our interest in having representation. I believe our management has faith in their ability to do their jobs. So it makes me wonder even more why they seem to take our desire to unionize so personally. Whether or not “WE” choose to unionize is “OUR” decision. It is NOT about any one personality. If our managers could focus on their roles to lead our department and let us decide how we want to be represented?then we could truly end all the “Fuss” about representation.

Operation Recruit: What About Those Numbers?

Almost every time I have a conversation about our union campaign I get asked, "Exactly how close are we to having an election?” While there is no way to pinpoint an exact date at this time, I can tell you that we will ABSOLUTELY call for an election when we are ready to WIN an election. Actually, the Delta AFA Steering Committee has a precise strategy for our campaign. Here are some of its basic components:

The speed and strength of our campaign is dependent on the number of active, engaged FAs who are out talking to the "undecided" and "on the fence" faction of our peer group. Our goal is to have between 5-10% of our entire workforce (about 1,300 Delta FAs) engaged in this manner.
Currently, there are a little less than 500 Delta FAs involved in the campaign to varying degrees of activity. While we can possibly win a campaign with this number, it would require massive work for this many FAs to reach 13,000 of our peers. That is why the ideal number is 5-10%.
On the bright side, there are 550 FAs who have NOT BEEN CONTACTED YET, who have checked the "I WANT TO HELP THE CAMPAIGN" BOX on their AFA card -- however, the small number of “really” active Delta FAs are having a hard time getting through this list without additional support.
If you want to vote on union representation sooner versus later, than get involved in the campaign! Help us reach out to the 550 FAs waiting to be contacted so they can join our ranks as base and phone mobilizers. AFA bag tags are becoming the fashion statement for 2007. They are beacons of hope to have our voices heard. They are ice breakers that facilitate conversation and education. As soon as we get our 550 colleagues distributing bag tags and union cards the sooner to an election!

If you feel that you would like to step up and help involve our peers please contact us at deltaorganizing@deltaafa.org. I also offer my personal email, mark4afa@cox.net, as a means to communicate quickly with the steering committee. A prompt response to all emails is my goal. Please continue to stay informed at www.ItsTimeDelta.net and www.deltaafa.org. Also feel free to print, share, and forward this email with your flying partners.

That’s it for this week’s hotline. Stay safe and stay focused.

-- To Listen To The Hotline, Call 1-800-424-2401, Press 1 Then 720 # --

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO
501 Third Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-434-1300

Delta AFA Hotline: 1-800 424-2401, press 1, then 720#