Machinists union urges Delta ground workers to vote ‘IAM yes’

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4656

By Michael Moore
19 October 2010

BLOOMINGTON - Ground workers at Delta Air Lines began voting last week in historic elections that could bring collective bargaining rights to more than 30,000 employees. On Sunday, the union seeking to represent those workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, rallied to build support.

The Twin Cities rally capped a six-city, three-day tour that brought the IAM’s top two elected officers, President Tom Buffenbarger and Vice President Robert Roach Jr., to airports with high populations of Delta workers.


People packed a rally to support union organizing at Delta Air Lines (above). Congressman Jim Oberstar (below) was among the speakers who fired up the crowd.
Photos by Michael Moore


At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, many of Delta’s ground employees used to work for Northwest Airlines, a unionized carrier. When the airlines merged two years ago, former Northwest employees kept their IAM representation – but that could change, depending on the results of voting this fall.

Pene Zarnoti, a reservations agent who worked for Northwest for 30 years, gave a “Late Show”-style top-10 list of reasons she will vote to keep her union representation. Among them: job protection, superior health insurance, defined retirement benefits, more vacation, better overtime compensation and a grievance procedure.

“I think we need a union to get a voice in what happens in the workplace,” Zarnoti said at the rally. “We need a union to try to keep (Delta) honest. I mean, if the pilots need a contract, with all their clout, so do we.”

FULL story at link.

[madrchsod]

1. the trolls are out tonight....

during the 70`s i was a iam member at illinois forge in rockfalls il. when wimpy took over the presidency it was like a breath of fresh air and a big dose of reality. he wrote in his newsletters about what was going wrong in in this country and why before anyone knew what was going to happen. those were the last days of the power of american unions......


i will always be proud to say i was a member of the IAM.