PILOTS RATIFY RICH DEAL

WHERE DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT MONEY IS COMING FROM?
RETIREES REGRET MISSED OPPORTUNITY


We hope that many employees who are contemplating accepting Delta’s early-out programs have had a chance to review a letter circulating regarding the plight of our retired employees. They are realizing that promises without legal status are meaningless, and that no voice at the table results in losses and benefit reductions. These poor retirees have ‘organized’ into a committee called the DALRC, said to number 35,000 former employees, who are desperate for a voice during the merger process.

They, at the very most, will only be shown lip service and perhaps some empathy. Beyond that, their fate is sealed. No real legally binding representation means no seat, no voice and no measurable or concrete remedies. The time to act for them was years ago when we had union campaigns on the property. Unionizing was and still is our only real avenue to guarantee any benefits post retirement.

What’s astounding is how many of these people bought into the ‘spirit of Delta’ flim-flam and believed that all those years of good pay and benefits were provided by Delta’s generosity. Delta merely matched what the union carriers were providing their employees to keep the various unions from gaining a foothold at Delta. Delta’s tactics worked and the results of that deceit are now being harshly delivered to Delta employees; both active and retired.

No amount of moaning or post-retirement organization will bear fruit. Our retired employees’ chance is gone, and their day to stand up for themselves has long past. Those of us involved in the union campaign can now see the results of our lack of action years ago. Our hearts go out to our retired former coworkers.

Those retirees have become the perfect example for why we active non-union employees need to join the pilots and get a union. The pilots just this week voted for and ratified a pact with Delta that gives them raises and 3.5% of the equity should the merger go through. The pilots will also get a seat on the Board (voting!) and pension improvements. That money has to come from somewhere within the company; just think about it for a minute. We with no voice and our pay determined by Delta – the pilots with a voice and their pay determined by themselves. That money has to come from somewhere. US!?

WE deserve what WE would get if a union was involved; signed guarantees, not promises and commitments that are easily broken and ignored. Talk to the retirees and listen to their regrets and lamentations.

Here is an excerpt from the letter from our retirees being floated to various elected representatives:

“We have been sitting on the sidelines watching this process for the past month as hearings are taking place in Washington. While those that are represented by Unions have been heard, People without Union voices have been silent. Delta Retirees have made huge sacrifices already because of the recent bankruptcy process and today pay more than any other airline for their healthcare due to broken promises and the fact that Delta has the ability to use the healthcare funds as they choose instead of following industry standards other airlines use to determine their benefits.”

Yes, our retirees can have their promised benefits changed, minimized or even deleted because there is no legally binding contract and no organized voice, like the pilots, that stops Delta from acting in their own internal interests.

Our future is in our own hands; we can join the union folks in the rest of the airline world and begin to re-establish our industry leading pay, benefit and healthcare safety net—or we can turn away from our own progress and rely on the stale promises of the past.

Ask a retired employee what he or she would do now. The light is finally shining through to them and their regrets are only exceeded by their irreversibly hopeless situation.