2,000 REASONS TO JOIN A UNION

DELTA OUTSOURCING CAUSES DISABILITY OVERPAYMENTS
COLLECTION AGENTS DISPATCHED TO RECLAIM MONIES

Have you heard the latest screw up coming down from Delta management? It seems back in the year 2005 when Delta was busy outsourcing every essential component of our airline, they made one change that has caused confusion and potentially a huge money loss. Aetna used to handle our disability claims as well as managing long term absences due to illness or injury. At the time we had a rather progressive sick leave policy that was managed in house but Delta decided to become stingy with sick leave and we transitioned into certified time and later into the very spartan program called PPT.

We also handed over the administration of the disability and sick leave programs to the ESC (Employee Service Center). (Contract workers). These people were ill prepared to take on the task and became overwhelmed in their duties. They also couldn’t keep track of the payments being made out to sick and hurt employees and in many cases issued overpayments at the same time injured employees were receiving worker's compensation checks from ESIS.

Off-set payments that were supposed to be paid to employees out of the disability fund to OJI inflicted or ill employees actually became full 100% salaries when in fact they should have been partially paid or 60% covered. In all it was a mess that never seemed to be fully explained and a program so poorly administered that it is no wonder we ended up in bankruptcy.

Many employees at the time who were on OJI knew they were being overpaid and tried mightily to find someone to give the money back to. Many were told by their various payroll departments that it was their money and just keep it but they knew better. Eventually most found, on their own, how to reimburse the company but some remained confused and spent all of it. After all, Delta showed no concern about collecting the overages and no proclivity in keeping accurate records.

The Delta-Family Care and Survivorship Plan (“Plan”) is now tasked with the duty of collecting this money. They have assigned a couple of specialists to go over the records and make over 2,000 employees return the over payments. Here’s the problem: the records are so incomplete and confusing that not even the specialists can come up with accurate figures. They have difficulty just explaining the complexities of their duties and we are sure that mistakes are occurring in compiling of the final figures. We wonder how many errors were made originally not in the employees’ monetary favor and bet the same vigor is not being utilized to return money to underfunded employees who suffered injuries or illnesses.

The real fault here lies with the out-sourcing of essential duties just to save a buck resulting in a convoluted and confusing program seemingly administered by idiots and overwhelmed temporary staffers.

Delta filed bankruptcy in 2006 and walked away from a significant portion of debt but seems to have no problem in not forgiving their own employees a debt that occurred because of Delta’s own incompetence.

In the “Rules of the Road” which was “inspired by the Delta employee manual from the 1940s written by Delta’s founder, C.E. Woolman.” He said this; “Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers.”

Hunting down retired employees, and current employees attempting to extract pre-bankruptcy monies that may or may not be owed to Delta is not taking care of employees. It is more accurately described as harassing and hounding employees who did nothing wrong except be exposed to programs and policies administered by incompetent buffoons who, if they still work here, should be the ones paying up.

To our Northwest friends who have just come on board; be prepared to be your own advocate should we not win our union campaigns. Delta’s programs and policies might look enticing on paper but rarely live up to expectation and have failed their own employees countless times.