Delta Ramp Workers Organizing Committee

Monday, February 08, 2010

BAIT AND SWITCH…

….IS AN OLD DELTA FAMILY TRADITION!


Here I am sitting at home and I hear about the new raise that Delta is announcing for all non-contract employees. It reminds me of a similar raise Delta announced many years ago back in 1997. They described it as a 10% raise for everyone and of course it wasn’t to happen for awhile. Details to follow, they said and we all cringed knowing that the “devil is always in the details” when it comes to ‘happy talk’ at Delta Air Lines.

When the raise appeared on our paychecks we weren’t amused that the raise was only 5% and many complained about being told one thing and given another. Delta responded that the raise included the initial 5% that we had been given back in 1996. “How could we have not understood that,” they said?!

Yep! You just have to get everything in writing with these guys; a contract would take away the shenanigans by these very talented double speak artists. What Delta wanted everyone to forget was that we had been given a 5% pay cut in 1993; therefore the announced 10% raise was, in reality, only 5% over a considerable period of time going backwards in history.

It should also be noted that we were beginning, back in late 1997 to explore the possibility of attempting to organize a union at Delta. Our efforts exploded into a frenzy of effort in 1998 and carried on well into 2002.

Just as is happening today, the money is offered up when employees show a spine and speak up for themselves. One reason Delta prefers a quick turnover in workers and utilizes more and more Ready Reserves is that there is no need to explain past practices when it comes to pay history. New workers are happy with any kind of raise and don’t share the same memories those of us who have been here for the duration share.

Delta’s pay history has always been to give a little when unions are active and take it back and then some when the activity winds down. They will never deviate from this bad habit until we break them of it. Getting a contract with everything defined is the only way to deal with the ‘bait and switch’ pay promises utilized historically by this company.

It should be blatantly obvious to all who are paying attention that announcing a substantial raise for non-contract personnel only and then delaying the pay for 8 months is a tactic to weaken the union efforts. It is an error on Delta’s part to think that this will weaken the Northwest workers; it has had the opposite effect and will only steel their resolve to keep the IAM and AFA.

Pre-Merger Delta employees who are watching these maneuvers should know that the money coming to them is a product of the long hours those of us who have worked the union cause have put in. Delta management should equally know that the money they now offer some of us but not all will be the beginning point of any contract negotiations that will take place in the future. Thank you Delta for providing an initial bargaining foundation to base our future efforts on!

For those of you who do not understand the delay in implementing the pay restoration, you only need to look at our past to understand our future. Richard Anderson is calculating when the vote might take place and is attempting to bribe those of you who haven’t made up your minds on whether you will vote or not. He is offering you cash to buy your vote. We say take it and then vote for those who really provided you the money.

Vote union yes!