What would you say for $14 million?
Delta flight attendants are worth nearly $14 million per year to AFA, representing a nearly 60% increase in potential dues collection.
Let’s unpack some of the things AFA has said as it tries to collect A-Cards from Delta flight attendants:
1. “Fly now, grieve later – that is not a thing. That doesn’t exist.”
Reality Check: “Fly Now, Grieve Later” is definitely a “thing” throughout the airline industry. Just ask your peers. When an employee (or their union) disagrees with the company on whether a work assignment is proper under a collective bargaining agreement, the employee must complete the assignment (“fly now”); and file a grievance under the contract (“grieve later”).
2. “AFA has the ability to negotiate [a CBA] in just a couple weeks’ time.”
Reality Check: No one, including AFA or Delta, knows how long contract negotiations would take. AFA has taken years to negotiate contracts for much smaller work groups, including 9 years to negotiate a second contract at Spirit Airlines.
3. “[Delta lags] behind our colleagues at other airlines in every area [wages, benefits, work rules, pay protections, etc.]”
Reality Check: Delta flight attendants have higher flight pay rates at every step of the scale than our closest competitors, and lead the industry in many categories – from profit sharing, to industry-first boarding pay, to flexible work rules such as our A-Day program. Delta isn’t perfect, but time and again our direct relationship has delivered more for you.
4. “Management cannot unilaterally change anything we have today when we vote for our union.”
Reality Check: Airlines can continue making business-related changes during negotiations, and neither the company nor the union are required to start with proposals based on what is already in place. During negotiations, any specific item can get better, worse, or stay the same.
5. “When we secure our union and negotiate our first contract, we – Delta Flight Attendants and only Delta Flight Attendants – decide what’s negotiated.”
Reality Check: Negotiations involve a give-and-take between the company and the union on a range of topics. These certainly include topics important to flight attendants, but also topics important to the union (such as mandatory dues collection under penalty of termination) and to the company. Ultimately both the company and the union must agree on every provision of the contract before flight attendants vote to accept or reject the agreement.
6. “In all our contracts, we negotiate not only a pay increase the first year, but every year going out.”
Reality Check: When AFA negotiated the GoJet contract, flight attendants were only slated to receive three pay increases during their 2020 – 2025 CBA. And flight attendants often go years without pay scale increases during contract negotiations, like Spirit flight attendants who waited nine years to negotiate their second contract.
AFA wants to be the sole representative of Delta flight attendants and will say a lot of things to get you to sign an A-card.
Hear what it’s like in a union from Bryce in ATL, who believed his former union’s promises -- but later found that they did not match reality.
Do your research. Don’t Risk It. Don’t Sign It.
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Stay in the know.
Text DELTA to +1 205 846 8096 for updates*
*By texting the keyword above, you are agreeing to receive periodic SMS text messages from Delta Air Lines regarding One Future. One Delta. Standard messaging and data rates may apply. You may unsubscribe any time by texting “STOP” and the keyword above to +1 205 846 8096. Full Terms.