KING RICHARD, ED AND HIS BAND OF MERRY MEN

ROBBING THE POOR….
TO ENRICH THEMSELVES!


As most of you are aware by now our leadership team has been traveling the system spreading the word about our collective strength and good fortune. Ed Bastian, our President and CFO, has been heard to say; “everyone wants to be us now. In the future, should consolidation take place, we will be the acquirer.”

Many of us didn’t feel the ‘strength’ Ed was trying to convey in our personal situations financially. Times are hard for us. It’s almost Christmas and industry standard pay is only an empty dream that turns out to be a lump of coal in our stockings.

But, don’t dismay. Ed and many of his fellow cronies’ Holidays will be filled with joy and greenbacks. On October 30th and 31st Ed and 6 other Officers of the company cashed in bucket loads of stock for millions, (about $5.5 million actually). This was only a fraction of what they have actually been allocated. Too bad, their equity shares (stock) had restrictions. The first day they could sell any of it, they did. Don’t worry if you still have your shares, these guys probably don’t know anything more about your (or Delta’s) future than you.

We received equity shares as well, and maybe it’s okay for them to cash in and spend a little money. However, there is one great difference between the shares that were allocated to us and the shares the management team received. They got theirs for free and we paid dearly for ours. Actually we got reamed!

We lost 20% of our annual pay, another 10 to 20% in benefit reductions, and we had our 401k ESOP savings wiped out, all in one year. Rudimentary math tells us that for every $20 share of stock we received, we handed over to Delta about $50 bucks. Anyone would call that an extremely lousy investment.

Ed and his ‘band of merry hucksters’ were smooth enough to finesse many employees through the magic of the Velvet Rope Con; to believe that they were actually doing us a favor. You’ve got to give them an ‘A’ for moxie.

There was a transfer of wealth collectively from workers’ pockets and deposited directly into managements’ pockets. This transaction culminated on Halloween when our top execs cashed in big. Is there any other way to describe it than sophisticated robbery? And we let it happen.

By not unionizing, management was able to shape our future any way they wanted. By not fighting back we signaled to them that we can be cajoled and manipulated. In essence, they can rob us blind. If we don’t come to our senses they will pick our bones clean, and why not? Our lack of sophistication and tendency to trust management has brought us individually to the brink of financial collapse. Isn’t it ironic that our leaders crow about our company’s overall strength when we are individually at our weakest financially?

This will not end well for us if we don’t face up to the realities of our situation. We will get our money —when we take it back. They aren’t going to give it to us. The union is the only way. Sign those A-cards now.