OLD TIME RELIGION
DELTA STYLE


In the olden days, mainly in rural areas, revivalists would often come to town and set up large circus tents to bring people of faith together and preach salvation. Many of these events were grandiose productions replete with inspirational words and elegant musical serenades. During the festivities, monies would be collected in order to further the “work” and help bring others into the fold.

The greatest number of these Salvationists were legitimate religious figures doing great, selfless work, but there were also charlatans among them lining their pockets by conning the true believer. Salvationists or snake oil salesmen, it wasn’t always easy to discern who was doing good work for the benefit of all.

Over the last couple of years as Delta has struggled to regain its footing in the airline world, I’ve wondered about the treatment we’ve received from upper management and how similar it has been to the early revivalist period. We’ve been asked to sacrifice individually for the greater good of the airline and promised great rewards for our shared sacrifices.

Instead of being “tithed” the traditional 10%, on a voluntary basis, we’ve been force “assessed” a whopping 40%, when you combine the 20% pay cut with the benefit reductions. In lieu of the circus tent, we received our indoctrination at the VRT. Skilled oratory “revivalists” such as Whitehurst, Bastian and Campbell delivered the sermons.

Now that we’ve received word of our soon arriving shared rewards, we have to ask ourselves; have we been given “salvation” or just a large helping of snake oil?

Depending on how much you earned last year, your one time stock delivery and one time lump sum money will be helpful. Profit sharing and 401k matching depend on whether Delta makes any money and if you can afford to put sufficient money in your 401k. The 4% pay reimbursement is a slap in the face and should have been much higher.

I firmly believe that all of these gains would not have taken place without the efforts of the Delta Ramp Workers Organizing Committee working in conjunction with the IAM. The pressure that we helped put on upper management caused some “righteous” intervention on the part of some of Delta management.

But temporary pressure is not enough to sustain these gains. We need to continue our efforts to unionize. The threat of a Union, while helpful, is simply not going to continue the monetary good times. We made billions of dollars in the late nineties and did not share in any of the wealth, while the pilots, who did have a contract, prospered.

To my younger associates and newer hires, I ask you to contemplate the realities of the situation. Many of you have not gotten involved in the union effort because you haven’t experienced the same level of frustrations and pay and benefit reductions that we older employees have. You tell me that you don’t plan on staying long so why bother getting involved. I say to you; life takes strange turns. Why not attempt to improve your lot while you’re still here?

We have much to do and tremendous room for improvement and growth. Our sick time is the industry worst. The OJI program is punitive because it reduces already minuscule sick banks. Our healthcare program under UHC is an embarrassment and is nothing more than catastrophic insurance and we have no real retirement program beyond the 401k program. We still have no protection from unfair termination or discipline and lastly, our pay is still woefully inadequate.

Join with us. Sign a union card today and continue putting pressure on upper management. The same pressure that has brought you these rewards.