In anticipation of change, flight attendants delay union vote

The withdrawal is in response to the board’s recent proposed voting procedures announcement that would permit a majority of workers who actually vote in union elections to decide the election and stop assigning "no" votes to workers who do not participate.

"Now that the NMB has announced that, for the first time in recent years, airline employees seeking union representation will have a chance for truly fair elections, flight attendants at Northwest and Delta are excited for that opportunity," said Patricia Friend, AFA-CWA International President. "As the largest private sector union election this year, we want this election at Delta Air Lines to occur under the new democratic procedures and therefore are withdrawing our single transportation application."

If AFA-CWA did not withdraw the petition, it is likely that the Delta flight attendants would be voting during the NMB\’s 60-day comment period with the ballot count taking place just weeks, if not days, before the final balloting rule is implemented. Since the NMB had yet to respond to AFA-CWA\’s initial application, an election for the flight attendants had not been scheduled.

"Employees seeking union representation will now have the opportunity to have their voice heard and their votes counted. We have a responsibility to withdraw our application to not only protect the Northwest flight attendant contract, but also to ensure that Delta flight attendants have the opportunity to vote for AFA-CWA representation in the most democratic of ways," added Friend.