How Union Drives Improve Lives for Workers
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Delta is far and away the worst of the major airline carriers for workers. It is the most anti-union and always has been. It’s a right-wing southern company to the core. So it has successful resisted most unions in what is a pretty union-dense industry. But the Association of Flight Attendants are trying to unionize Delta flight attendants. So Delta is being forced to respond by opening a new frontier of positive workplace conditions for its attendants–paying them during boarding which amazingly most don’t get paid for.
In a major win for unionizing flight attendants, Delta Air Lines announced on Monday that it will begin paying its flight attendants during boarding as the company faces a renewed union drive backed by the largest flight attendants’ union in the country.
This is a first for a major U.S. airline; U.S. airlines typically don’t pay their flight attendants during boarding, meaning that attendants are providing free labor up until the plane door closes. The new pay will begin on June 2, although attendants will only be paid half of their normal hourly rate.The airline will also increase its domestic boarding time from 35 minutes to 40 minutes for narrow-body flights, which the company says is to “add resiliency to our operation.”
The flight attendants’ union, organized by Delta workers seeking representation from the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), took credit for the pay change, saying in a statement that it is “the direct result of our organizing — and a desperate attempt to prevent their other new boarding policy from creating the kind of anger that it deserves,” referring to the expanded boarding times.“
As we get closer to filing for our union vote, management is getting nervous,” the union continued. “But this also shows that Delta could have been paying Flight Attendants for boarding all along. And while this is a positive change, Flight Attendants are still being forced to fly more often thanks to short staffing.”
Two things–first, even union campaigns force companies to give power to workers. Second, this opens a whole new door of salary for attendants throughout the industry. It goes without saying that all unpaid labor is money stolen from workers and if you don’t think attendants are working trying to get jerks into their seats and their gigantic bags into the carry-on bins, then you haven’t flown.