Congress members reprimand Delta Air Lines for ‘anti-union practices’ in letter

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A letter signed by 146 Congress members urged the Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines to stop its “anti-union practices” on Monday.

Delta has an anti-union website, hands out anti-union flyers and has threatened to fire employees for trying to organize, according to the letter sent to Delta CEO Ed Bastian. Only about 20% of Delta workers are unionized, and Delta is the only U.S.-based mainline carrier where flight attendants, fleet service members and mechanics aren’t represented in a union, the Congress members said in a statement.

The signees called for Delta to adopt a neutrality agreement, which would “free Delta workers from intimidation” and allow for a union.

“All workers should have the free and fair choice to join a union, as is required by law,” the letter said. “We strongly urge you to adopt a neutrality agreement with regards to any efforts by your employees to unionize and to commit to negotiating in good faith if your employees do choose to form a union.”

READ THE FULL LETTER:

The letter comes after Delta employees met with several workers’ rights groups at the U.S. House of Representatives Labor Caucus on Jan. 17, brainstorming how to better organize and bargain.

Delta employees have been trying to form a union since November 2022, the Congress members’ letter said. In 2023, several Delta workers held public rallies at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and other locations, chanting for change.

And in November, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said airline management called police to intimidate an organizer who was in a public space near Delta’s employee parking lot in Atlanta.

Delta said it believes employees have the right to choose or reject a union freely, and “Delta has the right and responsibility to ensure its people can make their choice with an informed perspective,” the company said in a statement.

“Exercising their right to choose, Delta employees have repeatedly declined representation over the past 20 years in favor of maintaining our direct relationship,” the statement continued. “We welcome the dialogue with these members of Congress.”

A Delta spokesperson also noted that none of the Congress members who signed the letter are from Georgia.

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