Congressional Labor Caucus Urges Delta Air Lines to Respect Employees’ Right to Organize

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 13, 2024) — Today, Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) led a letter with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and more than 140 bipartisan Members of Congress urging Delta Air Lines to adopt a neutrality agreement towards efforts by its employees to form a union.

“All workers should have the free and fair choice to join a union, as is required by law. We strongly urge you to adopt a neutrality agreement with regards to any efforts by your employees to unionize and to commit to negotiating in good faith if your employees do choose to form a union,” the Members wrote in a letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastian.

“A neutrality agreement simply consists of an employer agreeing not to engage in pre-election activities that influence workers’ freedom to form a union,” the Members continued. “Your commitment to neutrality would ensure that management does not pressure workers into voting against unionization or delaying the election process.”

Delta employees, including Flight Attendants with Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, fleet service workers with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and technicians with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, have been actively working to form a union. The company’s resistance to unionization efforts has sparked concerns about workers’ rights and fair labor practices.

“The Railway Labor Act is clear that not only does management have no role in a worker’s decision to form or join a union, it also expressly directs management not to ‘interfere... influence or coerce’ employees against unionizing,” said Sara Nelson, AFA-CWA International President. “The law says workers have the free choice to decide for themselves. But enforcement of the law is essentially nonexistent. That’s why it’s so important that lawmakers stand up for their constituents’ rights and that’s exactly what 146 House members did in signing this letter. Huge thanks to the leadership of the Labor Caucus! Delta is on notice now with clear expectations to remain neutral in union organizing.”

A full copy of the letter can be found here.

The letter was signed by 146 bipartisan Members of Congress, including: Reps. Alma Adams, Colin Allred, Gabe Amo, Nanette Barragán Joyce Beatty, Donald Beyer, Jamaal Bowman, Brendan Boyle, Shontel Brown, Nikki Budzinski, Cori Bush, Tony Cárdenas, André Carson, Troy Carter, Greg Casar, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Yvette Clarke, Emanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Gerald Connolly, J. Correa, Joe Courtney, Jason Crow, Danny Davis, Donald Davis, Rosa DeLauro, Suzan DelBene, Christopher Deluzio, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Anna Eshoo, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Brian Fitzpatrick, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Jesús Garcia, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Josh Gottheimer, Al Green, Raúl Grijalva, Jim Himes, Steven Horsford, Val Hoyle, Jared Huffman, Glenn Ivey, Jonathan Jackson, Sheila Jackson Lee, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Marcy Kaptur, William Keating, Robin Kelly, Ro Khanna, Daniel Kildee, Derek Kilmer, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ann Kuster, Greg Landsman, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Summer Lee, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Stephen Lynch, Seth Magaziner, Jennifer McClellan, Gwen Moore, Jared Moskowitz, Seth Moulton, Betty McCollum, Morgan McGarvey, James McGovern, Robert Menendez, Kweisi Mfume, Frank Mrvan, Kevin Mullin, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Joe Neguse, Wiley Nickel, Donald Norcross, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Frank Pallone, Chris Pappas Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Scott Peters, Chellie Pingree, Mark Pocan, Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressley, Delia Ramirez, Jamie Raskin, Deborah Ross, Dutch Ruppersberger, Patrick Ryan, Andrea Salinas, Linda Sánchez, John Sarbanes, Mary Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, Adam Schiff, Bradley Schneider, Brad, Sherman, Mikie Sherrill, Elissa Slotkin, Adam Smith, Eric Sorensen, Darren Soto, Abigail Spanberger, Melanie Stansbury, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Eric Swalwell, Emilia Sykes, Mark Takano, Shri Thanedar, Bennie Thompson, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Jill Tokuda, Ritchie Torres, Norma Torres, David Trone, Lauren Underwood, Nydia Velázquez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxine Waters, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jennifer Wexton, Susan Wild, and Frederica Wilson.