Delta Airlines pilots vote unanimously authorising strike to negotiate better pay
- A vote was conducted by Delta Airlines pilots on Monday in which 99% of Delta employees took part
- Out of the 99%, 96% voted to go on a strike "if necessary"
- The Delita Airlines pilots started negotiating for better contracts in 2019
Pilots with Delta Air Lines, who are on a picket demanding better contracts outside the John F. Kennedy International Airport, voted overwhelmingly on Monday authorizing union leaders to call a strike. 96% of Delta Airlines workers participated in the vote and out of them, 99% said that they should strike “if necessary”.
However, since pilots have to cross several hurdles before they can walk off their jobs, the AP reports that it could only be a symbolic gesture.
The Airlines unions across the US are demanding big pay increases. As a result, the threat to strike could spread resulting in labour shortages at a time when airlines recovering from the draught in revenue caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions on air travel that lasted a long time.
Anticipating the threat the union’s demands represent, American Airlines offered its pilots a 19% pay increase last week. It could serve as a good model of negotiation for Delta and United airlines whose workers are also demanding better wages.
Although American Airlines proposal has not been ratified yet, it is believed that it can be a good start for negotiating with Delta pilots on strike. Their pay rates were set in 2016 and have not been changed since. Negotiations on the matter started in 2019, before the pandemic, but took a backseat due after Covid-19 broke out in March 2020.
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With 2020 heralding a fresh wave of normalcy across the US, the pilots resumed their negotiations back in January 2022.
Federal law prevents labour contracts in the airline sector from expiring. Federal mediators must conclude that further negotiations would be fruitless before employees are permitted to strike. The president and Congress may still step in to prevent a strike even after that.
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