Delta Air Lines continues to be the least unionized of the four large U.S. airline carriers, and their labor relation efforts has had its difficulties since their merge with Northwest Air Line in 2008. As of today, only Delta’s pilots and flight dispatchers have union representation. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is currently working with Delta Flight Attendants to achieve union organization, and for Ramp/Cargo/Tower employees, union drives have been ongoing for years. Some say that unions and airlines have each extended negotiations for their financial gain (GAO-03-652), and many workers have witnessed Delta’s net profit soar above $2 billion in 2016. As non-union workers feels as if they deserve better …show more content…
As many industry representatives have stressed, the difficulties addressing problems in negotiations in an effective way if there is absence trust between the employees and management at work on a day-to-day basis. (Kochan, Mckersie, Gittell, and Nordenflycht, 2003). It makes the arguments even more challenging when management believes they offer their employees the best benefits packages. From Anderson’s article (2014) Air Line Pilots Association mentioned, “Lots of people want to work for Delta: In our last push to recruit flight attendants, we received 100,000 applications for 1,400 openings. The demand is similar for most other positions. Our employee surveys show that 90% of our people would recommend working at Delta to friends and …show more content…
Instead of Delta Air Lines meeting demands of salaries and benefits by small margins, they should survey the workers needs and come to an agreement. With Delta’s profits consistently rising in the last five years, even new hires are concerned why attendant salaries pay gap is 26 percent behind Southwest Airlines. Delta’s total compensation, including all benefits, is slightly below the industry standard. If demands are not met, Delta will be subject to sickouts and work slowdowns. Those actions are designed to place economic pressure on an airline (GAO-03-652). This information is alarming, and with the union planning to renew its union efforts, as stated: “renew our organizing drive and file again twelve months from the date of the dismissal of our application, as is permitted by law.", Delta will have to revisit their labor campaigns for collective bargaining, so production is no
Tensions between union supporters and management began mounting in the years preceding the strike. In April of 1994, the International Union led a three-week strike against major tracking companies in the freight hauling industry in attempts to stop management from creating $9 per hour part-time positions. This would only foreshadow battles to come between management and union. Later, in 1995, teamsters mounted an unprecedented national union campaign in attempts to defeat the labor-management “cooperation” scheme that UPS management tried to establish in order to weaken the union before contract talks (Witt, Wilson). This strike was distinguished from other strikes of recent years in that it was an offensive strike, not a defensive one. It was a struggle in which the union was prepared, fought over issues which it defined, and one which relied overwhelmingly on the efforts of the members themselves (http://www.igc.org/dbacon/Strikes/07ups.htm).
As companies look to expand operations and hire new employees, many economic and environmental factors are taken into consideration. The cost of labor is one of the primary concerns as labor generally constitutes a large part of company budgets. The organization of labor by unions further increases this concern. The wages of unionized workers are significantly higher than the wages of nonunion workers in almost every industry (Fossum, 2012). Higher wages generally result in reduced company profits, lower share prices, and reduced shareholder returns (Fossum, 2012). Unionization also reduces the employer’s flexibility with regards to hiring, transferring, or promoting employees (Fossum, 2012). Productivity may be negatively impacted by unionization because merit is often eliminated as a criterion for wage increases or promotions (Fossum, 2012). As a result of these negative impacts, employers are motivated to oppose unionization.
The Qantas ‘engineers workplace dispute’ of 2011 was the result of workers demanding an increase in remuneration, the diversification of employment and an increase in job security in sight of Qantas’ cessation of workers for capital-labour substitution, and rising inflation. Which required Qantas to utilise negotiation of contractual conditions, grievance procedures for employee complaints, and tribunals for legislative arbitration. The engineers demanded a 4% annual pay rise (remuneration), new classification levels i.e. employment diversification, job security pay claims and to not be outsourced in a new EBA (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) [1]. They pursued Qantas to achieve this log of claims, through the ALAEA (Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association) union in proposing that contractors be restricted, access to productivity improvements in technology be restricted, and that Qantas build a fully tooled and staffed heavy maintenance facility. These demands were what Qantas’ engineer labour argued as vital in being able to earn a sustainable long term income, as recruitment and selection processes in the modern era are extremely difficult and require
One of the main drivers of the merger between American Airlines and U.S. Airways is the American Airlines Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on November 29, 2011. American considered merging with another airline as a critical aspect of their reorganization. Early in the bankruptcy proceedings creditors expressed concern about their stand-alone restructuring plan. Some of American Airlines largest creditors were their labor unions. The unions, who pushed for the merger with US Airways, believed it would give the new larger company a stronger competitive advantage over the rest of the market, including other recent mega mergers. 12
...been. The merger was facing antitrust review and on top of that the Northwest unionized pilots could not reach an agreement. In Oct 2008, an agreement was reached and all pilots from both sides received pay raises and Delta acquired Northwest Airlines for 2.8 billion dollars. This was considered one of the largest deals in the industry and made Delta number one in the world in terms of destinations (Anonymous, 2009).
Magic Carpet Airlines (MCA) is in the midst of a collective bargaining negotiation with a union and this paper will present the case from the union’s side of the bargaining table. First, one must understand the meaning of collective bargaining negotiations; this is when both sides of the negotiations discuss wages and others perks and then come to an amicable agreement. Collective bargaining is not a simple negotiation process, because the employer and the union usually meet on more than one occasion, due to the fact that union negotiators must keep their members informed during the process and they must also present any offers to their constituents for a yes or no vote to accept said terms being offered by the employer. The textbook offered the Magic Carpet collective bargaining as a case study and students were asked to analyze the issues being negotiated, determine ways
Reviewing the editorial entitled “Not Just Public Unions: Private Sector Unions Hurting Business” written by Mr. Stephen DeMaura, the author presents the issue of American Airline (AA) pilots not receiving the support from the Allied Pilots Association (ALPA), the AA pilots’ union. The editorial describes how the AA pilots’ union failed them by “… rejecting a concessionary contract offered by management. The contract included pay raises and a 13.5 percent stake in the company… (DeMaura, 2012). In order to look at why ALPA refused a contract which the airlines’ management put on the table for the benefit of their pilots, a look at the state of union relations within the airline industry in the United States needs to be reviewed. Nevertheless, at the end of doing a review why ALPA refused such a contract, it was the relentless efforts of the pilots to fight for their rights which changed what would have been a bad outcome for the pilots if they would taken ALPA’s representation.
Many elements of Delta Airlines are described in detail, within this paper. There is a breakdown of the external and internal factors, using external and internal analysis. Porter’s Five forces are used to create the external analysis, and the key factors for Delta are power of buyers, and rivalry. Delta’s competitive advantages are identified as customer service, sustainability, brand image, strong strategic alliances, and corporate travel. Delta’s main issues are the low expansion in international markets, continuous changing of incentive program, and glitches within technology. Delta should expand more into the Chinese and African markets in order to gain market share within the airline industry.
Providing employees the right to select a union to act as their collective bargaining agent.
If the short haul passenger was the backbone of Southwest Airlines success, then their 737s were the lifelines that supported it. By choosing the 737 as the airplane for all of Southwest's flights, the company saved time and resources in training its employees. The crew could be easily substituted for one another due to the extensive training on the 737. Low costs and, therefore, low fares are an enormous competitive advantage, when combined with their high-quality and loyal workforce. A very unique culture was found at Southwest Airlines among all of its employees.
Delta Airlines has been a vibrant company in the airline industry, with great success over the years. Delta airlines started as a crops dusting company to serving more than 572 destinations, in 65 countries on six continents (Allan, H., David. H. ,2012). Delta airline moved its headquarters from Monroe, Louisiana to the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The great management strategies have portrayed from time to time to be fruitful even in the verge of a recession. With these consistency in delivery of services, it is clear that the company is out to outdo its competitors and turn out to be the greatest airline in the world.
Many employees when looking for a job or deciding whether to stay with their current employment often considers the employee benefits the company offers.
This was a sad day for everyone in both the immediate and extended “Delta family,” a day perhaps as sad in its own way as the death of Mr. Woolman almost 40 years before. The sadness mixes with fear by employees and retirees, their families, stockholders, customers, vendors, taxpayers, governments and all others among the tens of thousands impacted by the bankruptcy. Leadership decisions by Delta’s Board and CEO’s over a long period of years laid the foundation for Delta to be in a position where the factors would have a large enough impact to result in bankruptcy. By promoting Ron Allen to CEO, primarily because he had moved up the chairs in the company through Beeb’s efforts, the Board showed their lack of awareness of the need for a strategist to deal with the fundamental changes taking place in the airline industry. Then the Board brought in Leo Mullin and gave him free rein for 6 ½ years to turn a cash rich company into one in such poor shape financially that his successor had to turn to expensive sources of money to keep the company
Spiess, L. and Waring, P. 2005. Aesthetic labour, cost minimisation and the labour process in the Asia Pacific airline industry. Employee Relations, 27 (2), pp. 193--207.
Traditional literature in the field of labor relations has focused immensely on its benefit towards the employer and in the process equating it to working rules. This has been so despite the field being expected to cover the process of, labor management, union formation, and collective bargain; all which are anticipated to create a positive employer-employee relationship. This relationship is said to be positive if there exist a balance between employment functions and the rights of the laborer. Also important to note, is that this relation is equally important to the public sector as it is to the private one. Therefore, to ensure a mutually conducive labor environment exists, effective labor management process and inclusive negotiation program should be adopted (Mulve 2006; Walton, 2008).