WHAT WE KNOW, YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BROKEN PROMISES

At both Delta and Northwest, we are proud employees, especially for the work we do in spite of many obstacles we face on a day-to-day basis. However at Northwest, we are not so proud of those who have run our company. We have great experience with promises being made and deliberately broken. We voluntarily voted to save our airline in 1993. In exchange for the gamble, we were promised stock in Northwest by none other than Richard Anderson. When it came time to pay up, guess what? Richard reneged. Fortunately, we had the IAM and were able to use our collective strength to go to Federal Court to force payment. The Court ordered NWA to honor their obligation. Northwest then tried to use the bankruptcy system to wipe out their promise and once again with the help of the IAM, we were able to get money paid out of the bankruptcy settlement.

Now, something alarming to Northwest employees has happened. Richard Anderson, the guy in charge of broken promises at NWA, has landed the job of CEO of Delta Air Lines. Worse, he is busy recruiting many from his old Northwest team to come join him to make all the same decisions at Delta. Let’s take a look at Richard’s “Corporate Leadership Team” as five of these decision makers hand selected by him have ties to Northwest; Ben Hirst (SVP-General Counsel), Steve Gorman (EVP-Operations), Mike Becker (EVP & COO-Northwest), Laura Liu (SVP-International), and Theresa Wise (SVP-Chief Information Officer). Plus, how many of the fifty-one (51) additional officers that have been named in the organizational charts are from the Northwest broken promise team? Richard’s mantra, “Let’s Keep Delta Our Delta” is a farce. What you are seeing is the creation of something we have lived with in the past. The difference? We now recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing and we know when Richard is trying to pull the wool over our eyes. The Delta management team is hoping, planning, and plotting that the employees do not have the benefit of a unified voice. They want us with no defense. They want a world of promises with no consequences…and broken promises that cannot be fixed. Don’t be fooled by Mr. Anderson’s charisma, allure, and silver tongue. There is one agenda and it’s not pretty. The bottom line, he’s only interested in his well being, not yours.

Some may think that Delta taking over Northwest would be a fresh start, and that can be exciting. But we know the “Dream Team” and exactly what they are capable of. They can paint a rosy picture and we have seen that before. But don’t be fooled. Delta has made several pay and benefit improvements since the IAM effort has started. They saw what all the unionized employees at the other carriers got after bankruptcy and have started to float back up to that level. There will be more. They have started to add pay back and have craftily called it a raise, when in reality it is still less than pre-bankruptcy. Remember it’s not a raise as management has stated. It’s part of what Delta took from you in bankruptcy. A raise would be if they gave back everything they took from you, plus more. They have made promises of more, all in hopes no one will notice that those promises are not in writing, not in a contract. Again, don’t be sucked in by the rosy picture.

Delta will say employees are empowered by a “Direct Relationship” with management. What they truly want is a one sided relationship; one where they hold all the cards, make all the decisions, and make any promises they want but cannot be held to because there is no collective bargaining agreement. WE should have a vote. Delta’s promises should mean something more than mere words. Those promises should be in writing. That way, if they are broken, they can be fixed.

WE ALL BENEFIT WHEN WE SAY UNION YES!!