INDUSTRY STANDARD or INDUSTRY LEADING?
OUR CHOICE IS COMING

The Delta Corporate Leadership team is fond of talking about their commitment to setting our wages at "industry standard" by 2010. "Industry Standard" is an interesting term. It implies solidness, fairness, and something you can depend on, like the "Gold Standard".

The Gold Standard is also the term that one might use to describe the "industry leading" bonuses, stock options and wages Richard Anderson, Ed Bastian and others have given themselves during the 3 years since emerging from bankruptcy. Despite tenuous economic times and then a head long downward dive they immediately took care of their own financial needs. The money was found.

We hope the money will be found to compensate us for having built the world's largest airline. We know that crisis lies ahead. It always does in the airline industry. We know that the past was riddled with crises: 9/11, SARS, the Gulf War, oil prices, swine flu, fare wars. Through all of this, Delta and Northwest employees have provided excellent passenger service. Even the admitted mistreatment of employees and "mistakes" by Delta and Northwest executives has not impacted what we deliver day in day out. Of course these "mistakes" had a great impact on our standard of living.

Our fear is that the upcoming stream of crises will be used to set the industry standard lower. The biggest airline in the world will be able to set standards on many different levels, much like WalMart does. Our fear is that the industry standard will include an ever higher percentage of Ready Reserve, part time work and a brutal revolving door. We are not interested in having the flexibility of 3 part time jobs. Having a "career job" is something that Richard Anderson is very interested in having, but is he interested in his employees having the same?

We know that the best way to get to industry standard and industry leading is by sticking together, by being well organized to defend our economic interests. Just ask the 5,000 IAM represented workers at Southwest Airlines who will top out at $26.61/hour with excellent benefits. Now that's a career job. That's industry leading and its guaranteed in writing.