CORDELL FINALLY SPEAKS OUT
CLARIFICATION OR DODGE?




Recently The Delta Ramp Workers Organizing Committee released an information paper on our blog site entitled, “Reorganization Plan Revealed, Pilots Get Rewarded-Front Line Employees Sold Out.” Many of you had the opportunity to read and digest its contents, including, it appears, Delta management.

Rich Cordell has responded to our paper with some uniquely strange “clarifications” and we wish to set the record straight. We did not say that Delta would be reducing it’s workforce by 7000-9000, on the contrary, we were simply reporting, in exact quotes from Delta’s filing to the United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York, what Delta themselves said; (“The Debtors’ in-court restructuring business plan includes the ELIMINATION OF 7000 TO 9000 ADDITIONAL JOBS SYSTEM-WIDE BY THE END OF 2007.”)

This was an intricate, complicated legal filing done in concert with the Debtors’ committee; a “Joint Plan of Reorganization.” We simply reported from the court dockets what had been filed by Delta on Feb. 7th, 2007. Delta spends millions of dollars on retaining competent, legal representation. Delta, I’m sure has literally dozens of bankruptcy attorneys working together to effect our emergence from bankruptcy. Do you really think that these people simply overlooked such potentially caustic and inflammatory phrases in their Disclosure Statement?

What seems more plausible is that Delta didn’t think we would notice. Now that we have noticed, Delta chooses to respond by modifying the Disclosure Statement and letting all of us know that they consider “those job reductions ..now substantially completed.” Cordell goes on to say that “There are no further system-wide reductions planned in ACS. We have NO PLANS to further outsource any part of ACS in 2007.”

Apparently Mr. Cordell doesn’t think much of our ability to remember past empty promises that turned out so wrong. On January 24, 2000, in a letter to all U.S. Airport Customer Service and Air Logistics People, Vicki Escarra said this; “When I was Senior Vice President-Airport Customer Service, I addressed the issue of outsourcing at locations where Delta people work on our ramps.” “I want to personally assure you we have no intention of outsourcing any under-wing functions in cities other than the ones presently being outsourced today.” That statement is still true.” She later stated, “We intend to follow through on all our commitments to you.”

Since that assurance by Vicki, we have lost over 120 cities to outsourcing. So much for Delta Management commitments.

Rich Cordell (who has Vicki’s old job), in his Feb. 15th e-mail to all ACS employees tells us we don‘t need IAM representation “in order to obtain industry competitive pay and benefits-this is a commitment made to you by senior management last year.”

I don’t know about you but whenever a Delta boss makes a “commitment” to me, I reach for my wallet and see how much they’ve taken this time. They were obviously lying to us back in 2000, one cannot trust them to be telling the truth now.

One could argue that by attempting to organize through IAM, we are already reaping benefits. Do you really think that Delta would have modified its Disclosure Statement to the bankruptcy court without union pressure? Would Delta be making suggestions and promises at the VRT without our organizational efforts? Perhaps more cities would have already been contracted out without our impact.

Remember, the management people making promises to you today could very well be gone tomorrow. As we have stated many times, Management teams are temporary, they come and go, we, on the other hand are here to stay. Why not have a contract that gives us stable wages and benefits and can’t be changed on a whim? Vicki Escarra made hard and firm “commitments,” none of which turned out to be true. Don’t give in to the empty rhetoric of current managers. Let’s help “Make Delta Our Delta” by signing an IAM union authorization card today.