20,000 flight attendants at Delta Airlines are voting now through November 3 on union representation. Flight attendants are the first to take a union vote since the 2008 Delta/Northwest merger. The election is being conducted by Internet and telephone under the supervision of the National Mediation Board, which administers the federal Railway Labor Act.
A major call center for the union campaign is right here in Bloomington. Last Thursday, it was packed with flight attendants from all over the country to help with the organizing effort. Congresswoman Betty McCollum stopped by for support and joined in the phoning. You can check out a photo of it here: http://bit.ly/cdQkTZ
Julianna Helminski, a pre-merger Northwest flight attendant, was on the phones calling to get out the vote with Rep. McCollum. Not only does does Julianna call, she is also leading visibility efforts of the campaign at the Minneapolis airport. In fact, she spoke to the over 500 delegates at the Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention held September 26-28 in Bloomington. She says, “We’re calling for the opportunity, unity and respect in the workplace. A union contract gives us these rights.”
Right alongside Julianna was Toni Weinfurtner, a pre-merger Delta flight attendant for 22 years. She does visibility from coast to coast, “basically, wherever they need me!” Toni has been unrepresented and brings that perspective to the conversations she has with fellow pre-merger Delta flight attendants. As often with organizing campaigns, there is a lot of misinformation and fear that management spreads. Toni knows that the best way to combat this fear is by one-on-one conversations.
Wes Blackman, a pre-merger Northwest flight attendant for 23 years, is calling supporters because he feels it is important to protect his future with a legally binding contract. He notes that management will try to take advantage of workers every chance they get if it’s not in writing.
Another volunteer, John Warner, came all the way from Denver to call. A flight attendant for recently organized Frontier Airlines, he is calling Delta flight attendants because he is “paying it forward because of all the support everyone gave us during our organizing efforts.” The 925 Frontier flight attendants unionized this year on May 10 with Denver and Milwaukee based crews.
You can help support flight attendants in their get out the vote efforts. Let Candace Lund know if you want to take a shift on the phones at [email protected] or 651-227-7647.
Portions of this post are taken from the Workday Minnesota article by Barb Kucera and Steve Share: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4635
To see more photos of the call center, check out the MN AFL-CIO’s Flickr set: http://bit.ly/cQduFW