Ground workers at Delta (and who were unionized at Northwest airlines) have rejected unionization at the combined airline by a similar vote (52% against) as the flight attendants making it a “win” for Delta. 

Everyone likes that Delta has so far maintained the status quo here although I’m sure the former Northwest employees continue to feel uneasy about this.  I think it’s good for both parties so far but let’s realize that one reason the elections have gone the way they have is the numerical superiority that original Delta employees have.  To be fair, they vote non-union because their experiences at Delta have been largely positive and fair although it would also be right to point out that most of them have never known a different environment. 

The key here is that Delta still needs to work on winning over these Northwest employees.  They still need to reassure these people and, if anything, work even harder at ensuring their needs are met and that they are being treated fairly in the grand scheme of the new airline.  That doesn’t mean they have to bow down to them.  It simply means that people can tell when they are and aren’t being treated fairly. 

Part of treating Northwest airline people fairly means listening to their concerns and accounting for why those concerns exist:  they don’t have a similar history of treatment from airline management at Northwest.   Actions speak louder than words and Delta management would be wise to use that as their mission statement going forward with all their labor groups.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax