How does it feel to know Northwest Airlines along with our possible new company, Delta, feels you are insignificant! Well that’s exactly what NWA Labor Relations thinks of us regarding this merger and our job security. In a conversation with District Lodge 143 PDGC Steve Gordon when he asked why the company has not contacted the IAM or District 143, Labor Relations Bob Brodien stated, "because Delta does not have union representation in our class and craft which we represent. There is not a need to talk to us about the merger.We are insignificant to the merger."

That’s right brothers and sisters, "INSIGNIFICANT’. In a very direct and pointed barb back to Brodien, PDGC Steve Gordon reminded him that our sacrifice of $190,000,000.00 a year wasn’t exactly insignificant. Our members deserve better than to be snuffed out of this merger process. Were we insignificant in 1993 when Northwest threatened bankruptcy after raping the wealth and assets of our Company? Who did the Company come to? It was the unions along with the State of Minnesota . Our members sacrificed 15% of their wages along with vacation time as well. All of us know how they buffaloed the people of this state by backing out of promises and contracts. So when they pulled out an obscure law from Delaware that allowed them to not pay the put price of stock earned for the concessions, that became the ultimate slap in the face to our members who made the sacrifices and pulled this company back into profitability. Crisis after crisis our members and their families have been asked to sacrifice for the good of Northwest Airlines.

This dramatic play we have been a part of was written years ago. The Richard Anderson and Doug Steeland, good cop, bad cop scene has been written by the likes of many famous playwrites, including the scene where the good guy has to leave and the bad guy has to unleash his doom and gloom only to have the good guy reappear as our opponents leader, ready to stomp on the people whom helped him get where he is today.

At least Richard Anderson is making the stand that he will put Delta employees first by protecting senority and job security and will keep their headquarters in Atlanta. Doug Steenland on the other hand, is assuring us that everything will be all right. That is reassuring. When you get right down to it and compare the reasons for a merger like this one, there isn’t much that is good for the employees, the state of Minnesota, and Northwest airlines.

With this merger, headquarters is gone to Atlanta along with its jobs. Do you really believe the reports that Minneapolis/St. Paul will remain a hub? With Delta’s large presence in the west at Salt Lake City and Northwest’s new terminal expanded runways in Detroit, MSP becomes the odd man out. Sure Northwest would keep a presence in MSP. Just through logistics of hub and spoke operations, MSP would become less desirable than the other two hubs. That translates to fewer flights and of course fewer employees needed to work them.

What will happen to Building A? With headquarters in Atlanta, what happens to our members jobs? Maybe you will be able to go to Atlanta if there is an opening. With out our union contract language for bumping rights most of us will be left to the Company’s wishes. There isn’t a building that our members work won’t be affected by this merger. Downsizing translates to loss of jobs and revenue for the State of Minnesota as well as the cost of retraining and unemployment paid by the State. As for the merged company, the price of oil and the downturn of the economy will still be the major factors for the survival of this merged airline.
Sure the hedge funds investors will make millions on the deal, but when the plan fails and losses are inevitable, who is going to bail them out? I think you can guess who.

When Delta was going into bankruptcy they told the employees we need give backs and then they just took them. No bargaining, just took what they needed from their employees. That’s what happens when you don’t have a union. You’re an employee at will. What the company wants you to have, you will get. Sisters and brothers, one thing is for sure, we need our union. We need the ability to have our voice heard. If the pilots come to an agreement, which now looks like a stretch, and the merger goes forward, we could be in a position to lose our union and our voice. Most likely we will have the opportunity to vote for our union once single carrier status is established. This means every one of us will have to be proactive and vote to be union.

If you want a voice and justice in the work place, if you want your seniority to mean something along with language to use that seniority, then you need a union.