Machinists charge interference after another lost election at Delta

In results announced Tuesday by the National Mediation Board, 12,518 people voted, with 8,746, or almost 70 percent, opposing unionization. It was a difficult defeat on top of three earlier unionization efforts by the Machinists among other Delta employee groups and a close loss by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

“Delta Air Lines’ continued illegal interference in union elections has once again denied employees their legal right to elections free from intimidation,” the Machinists said in a statement. “By December 9, 2010, the IAM will present evidence of interference to the National Mediation Board regarding earlier elections for fleet service and stock & stores employees. Soon thereafter, the IAM will file its charges of interference in the passenger service election.”

The NMB found Delta had committed improper election interference earlier this year in an election for flight simulator technicians and in a 2000 election for fleet service workers.

Altogether, some 55,000 workers are unrepresented at Delta, making it the least unionized of all major U.S. carriers. Union elections were held following the merger of Northwest Airlines, which was mostly unionized, with Delta, where only the pilots had representation.