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For Immediate Release: April 22, 2008
Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586
U.S. Senators Urge Delta And Northwest To Include Employees In Upcoming Merger
Cite Upcoming Delta Flight Attendant Election and Maintaining Northwest Contracts as Major Issues
Washington, DC – In a letter yesterday to the CEOs of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, 26 U.S. Senators urged both parties to “demonstrate a genuine commitment to cooperative labor relations” and to remain neutral in future union elections, particularly for Delta flight attendants who begin voting for AFA-CWA representation on April 23.
“We applaud the Senators for their effort to ensure that the voices of flight attendants and other employees are heard throughout this merger process,” said Patricia Friend, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) International President. “This letters confirms the efforts that Delta flight attendants have achieved over the past 18 months in order to participate in this historic election. They have worked tirelessly for the right to negotiate for their future and to have a say in how the merger and potential outsourcing or any layoffs might affect them. We also applaud the Senators for insisting that the collective bargaining rights for Northwest Airlines flight attendants are protected in this merger.”
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who led the effort to send the letter stated, “Delta and Northwest Airlines should honor the loyalty and hard work of their employees by immediately offering them a seat at the table in the merger talks. No employees should have to fear that they will lose their jobs, their benefits, and even their union representation without even being given a voice in these negotiations. We also hope that the merger process will not be used as a way to eliminate the union representation that has existed at Northwest for decades.”
The letter comes just three days before AFA-CWA and the CEOs from Delta and Northwest are scheduled to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on the merger of the two airlines. The hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m EDT on Thursday, April 24 in Rayburn House Office Building
For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been serving as the voice for flight attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines come together to form AFA-CWA, the world’s largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afanet.org.
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