U.S. companies that let their anti-union animus get in the way of business have only themselves to blame for bad outcomes. Take Delta Air Lines, for example. Delta, trying mightily to defeat efforts by flight attendants and ramp workers to gain representation, doesn’t get nearly as much respect from administration regulators and Capitol Hill dealmakers as it would if it were lobbying alongside organizations that represent its employees.
Thus, when the Department of Transportation scotched a Delta-US Airways agreement to swap takeoff and landing slots in New York and Washington airports unless the airlines also agreed to sell additional slots to other competitors, it was reacting to pressure from U.S. senators and members of Congress promoting the interests of corporate constituents, particularly JetBlue. They didn’t really hear from the tens of thousands of constituents who work for Delta, but they could have.
Likewise, Delta would have had a better shot at securing Asian routes with an agreement with Japanese Air Lines if JAL had assurances that Delta easily could win an antitrust determination by the U.S. Department of Justice. Instead, JAL decided to keep its route-sharing arrangement with American Airlines, which stands to gain millions of dollars that could have gone to Delta. Hopefully that will benefit American’s employees, all of whom are in bargaining with the airline.
Corporations that recognize and work with unions can benefit substantially by creating partnerships to advance common goals. Consider how the United Steelworkers, through collective bargaining, has created a powerful labor-management partnership, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), which promotes fair trade and industrial policy not only to members of Congress, but also to the general public – through town hall meetings, media outreach and paid advertising.
Labor-management relations in our nation don’t need to be confrontational, even though that has been the history. Times have changed, and those companies that recognize the benefits of cooperation are the ones that will prosper in the new era.
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