USA Today: Northwest flight attendants union sues Delta

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=59021848.blog

The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents flight attendants at Northwest, has sued Delta in federal court. The union is trying "to block the world's biggest (airline) from starting the process to integrate the two carriers' seniority lists until the combined group is given the opportunity to vote on union representation," The Associated Press reports. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says "now that Atlanta-based Delta has closed its merger with (Northwest), many employees at the combined carrier, including flight attendants, will likely vote on whether to unionize. Flight attendants at Northwest are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants union, while flight attendants at Delta are not unionized."

The Journal-Constitution writes "one key issue is whether Delta flight attendants would benefit more from the company's seniority integration process, dubbed 'fair and equitable,' versus the union's seniority integration process, called 'date of hire.' " The union claims the airline is pushing ahead with attempts to integrate the seniority lists before allowing attendants to vote on unionization. The union says the airline is required to permit a vote prior to that process, and claims Delta is pushing ahead with the process in an way that could "influence" workers against union representation.

AP writes "Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Delta believes the AFA-CWA's position regarding when the seniority list integration process should begin is wrong as a matter of law and does not serve the interests of the combined flight attendant group." Talton tells AP: "Seniority integration is one of the top issues on employees' minds, and resolving seniority and representation issues promptly will allow all employees to more quickly benefit from the merger."