CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The dealmaking behind the creation of the world's largest airline may very well result in a referendum on union representation in the airline industry.
Why? The planned merger of Delta (DAL Quote) and Northwest (NWA Quote) represents a combination of two carriers with vastly different labor profiles. Just 15% of Delta's 55,000 workers are unionized; 80% of Northwest's 34,000 workers are.
In the representation elections likely to follow a merger, unions could very well be ousted. "We think part of the thinking here is that they could de-unionize the transportation labor movement," says Robert Roach, general vice president of the International Association of Machinists, the largest airline union and a key opponent of the merger.
A History of Union Resistance
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