Low-wage Delta workers in NYC set for raise

Hatu

Hatu

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Aug 20, 2002
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as usual, your selective reading disqualifies you from meaningful participation in the conversation.


"Port Authority and New York officials hope the other airlines addressed in the letter will follow Delta's lead. Those firms -- United (UAL, Fortune 500), American (AAL) and JetBlue (JBLU, Fortune 500) -- did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
"As the largest airline in New York, we work hand in hand with the Port Authority, the Governor's office and many partners," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. "The people that work at the airport are our neighbors, friends and members of our community. We value their contributions to our operation."

Did you get that? DL is the FIRST of the largest airlines in NYC to establish the federal contractor minimum wage as DL's own. 2000 of the 8000 employees work for or on behalf of DL. that leaves 6000 more for other airlines to address.

Note that the other airlines responded with "no comment."

Could be a strategically important move for DL as it would force up its competitors costs at a time when all are facing increased competitive pressures including in NYC.

I support the effort and commend DL for being a socially responsible leader in the communities it serves.
 
Here is an article from a week ago when the PA sent a letter to AA, DL, B6 and UA, ordering them to raise the pay of the outsourced contractors who serve them:
 
http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/30/5527128/wage-increases-ordered-at-nyc.html
 


Deputy Executive Director Deborah Gramiccioni, who was appointed last month by Christie, a Republican, said she did not get word of the plan in advance and has concerns about its legality.
 
"We are absolutely in favor of reasonable wage adjustments negotiated through the collective bargaining process," Gramiccioni said in a statement. "But this directive raises complex labor, business and legal issues that our airlines, their business partners and employees are facing, and we need to consider the significant financial and operational impacts at our airports."
 
The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ has been pushing for better pay for the 12,000 workers it represents at all three major airports, who perform such duties as cleaning the planes and moving baggage, and the group hailed Foye's letter as a victory at least for those who work at the New York City airports.
Click to expand...
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/30/5527128/wage-increases-ordered-at-nyc.html#storylink=cpy
 
not surprisingly, some are arguing there are legal issues involved and I'm sure there are. But DL stepped forward and increased pay whether they are legally required to do so or not. Have the other airlines?

32BJ, a union of property service workers affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, called Delta's announcement a "big win," and said it hope to see the reforms expanded to the Newark, N.J. airport and others. The group is organizing a protest for Newark airport workers Monday.
 
This is mainly for the vendors, and either Ready Reserve workers or Delta Global Services. I'm sure that DL mainline makes or starts more than 9.00 per hour in NYC.
People have been fighting for an increase for airport workers for a while with protests and such. They deserve a raise as well. They really need it. The other airlines will have to step up and give their vendors a raise.

2000 workers? That must include all of the combined vendors: cleaners; catering that services DL mainline and DCI aircraft. How many mainline employees vs. RR and DGS at JFK and LGA?

Lets's see what Gov. Christie does on NJ side at EWR Airport.
 
It's a great story and goes to show that a collective voice can achieve real progress in the workplace.

For those trying to frame this as DL being a benevolent entity, the question is: why hadn't they raised it in the first place? Why'd they wait until the bright light of the media was shining on them?

T5--

No shortage of Ready Reserve employees at any of the NYC area airports. Operations at LGA's Marine Terminal are farmed out, as are cleaning, lav/water service and more. Not sure who handles regional flights. At JFK, many of those same functions are outsourced, as are some bag room functions. I'm sure I'm missing a few.
 
Kev3188 said:
For those trying to frame this as DL being a benevolent entity, the question is: why hadn't they raised it in the first place? Why'd they wait until the bright light of the media was shining on them?
Click to expand...
Kev:  How dare you question the great, powerful and magnanimous Delta Air Lines.     :D
 
DL just wanted to get this news out before the Monday press release that SEIU has selected DL as its preferred carrier due to its large number of First Class seats in major cities like NYC, LA and WAS.  Those SEIU officials have to travel in style.
 
it's ok to question DL... but those who want to question DL should also be asking why other airlines haven't done the same thing. The more heavily unionized airlines haven't done it.
 
Kev3188 said:
It's a great story and goes to show that a collective voice can achieve real progress in the workplace.

For those trying to frame this as DL being a benevolent entity, the question is: why hadn't they raised it in the first place? Why'd they wait until the bright light of the media was shining on them?

T5--

No shortage of Ready Reserve employees at any of the NYC area airports. Operations at LGA's Marine Terminal are farmed out, as are cleaning, lav/water service and more. Not sure who handles regional flights. At JFK, many of those same functions are outsourced, as are some bag room functions. I'm sure I'm missing a few.
Click to expand...
All operations at the MAT are on regional jets as well. We aren't in the days when the Shuttles operated with 130-150 seats on mainline aircraft and had standby aircraft ready to roll and extra sections running 15 minutes before scheduled departure at peak times.

I want to see ALL DL operations flown by DL mainline aircraft and worked by DL employees above and below wing but that isn't the reality of the industry.

You also fail to note that a large percentage of the flights from the C and D terminals are RJ flights and worked by DL employees AW and BW.

Once again, DL is doing more to bring more of its flying back to mainline than any other airline. And DL ground handles a larger DCI operation at ATL than all but a couple mainline hubs in the US.

Of course there is something of a political element involved in doing something like this - but why didn't other airlines that had union employees do the same? Why weren't AA and UA's unions successful in demanding that their companies do the same thing for their contractors?

And you can argue about the wage that any company should pay but at what point should any employer just start paying higher salaries because the cost of living for workers in the local makes it tight to maintain a decent standard of living?

Let's be honest that even $10/hour is not a very high salary in NYC but then why do you reward people at the bottom of the job market by pushing their salaries higher and higher into the salaries that other workers have worked to obtain?

In countries that have allowed wage rates to escalate across the board, the evidence is overwhelming that the cost of living goes up just as fast which lives the people at the bottom of the wage pyramid in the same relative position. Assuming a non-abusive starting wage, the only valid way to push salaries up from the bottom is to have the incentive to work to make a higher wage. Further, the economy of a country starts to break down in its unity if some locales have wages and costs of living that are significantly disconnected from the averages of the rest of the country.
 
And it was still farmed out at MAT when it was mainline planes.
 
I don't know when BW was outsourced but AW is still done by DL employees and BW was done by DL employees for many years.

you still haven't acknowledged that DL ground handles more RJ flights in ATL than most airlines have for mainline flights in their hubs.

I want DL employees working in all capacities on all flights that carry DL passengers. But let's also be honest in admitting that other carriers outsource far larger percentages of their operations.

And once again, DL has AW personnel in far more stations than any other of its network peers.

You can try and divert attention from the topic but DL is the first major carrier in NYC to increase wages for people who work on its aircraft.

Why haven't other carriers done the same and why haven't unions been more effective at pushing these wage increases thru including supporting the local unions who have been asking for this?
 
WorldTraveler said:
not surprisingly, some are arguing there are legal issues involved and I'm sure there are. But DL stepped forward and increased pay whether they are legally required to do so or not. Have the other airlines?

32BJ, a union of property service workers affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, called Delta's announcement a "big win," and said it hope to see the reforms expanded to the Newark, N.J. airport and others. The group is organizing a protest for Newark airport workers Monday.
Click to expand...
Well, it's up to the Governor of NJ to do the right thing.
UA will have to pay Airserv and Gateway more money. (We have M/L employees at all 3 airports ATW/BTW doing ML & UAL Express work.) At EWR, US employees do their Mainline & Express work while AA is farmed out by ASIG. (Once merged, I would think that it would be brought back home to ML) They and the myriad of vendors need a raise. It's a drag on all of our salaries.

Bottom line is everybody in the food chain will eventually have to be paid more. This model is starting to become unsustainable, and
 
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