One thing that is becoming painfully apparent to union workers is that collective bargaining slows things down and can actually hamstring employers’ ability to give better benefits quickly and respond to the needs of their workers.
In two recent cases, large companies are paying workers more for their efforts, and unions are not happy about it.
The first case involves Delta Airlines. The norm in the American airline industry is that the pay clock for flight attendants starts ticking the second the boarding doors close. Delta, whose flight attendants are not unionized, is unilaterally changing that for its flights. As of June 2, attendants are paid for the approximately 30-50 minutes that it takes to board every flight. The pay is half their hourly rate, which could mean about $20 extra per flight for senior attendants.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which has been trying to organize Delta’s flight attendants for 20 years, covered its disappointment over the new pay with happy talk, yet it was disappointment all the same.
“Delta management announced this evening that Flight Attendants will be paid for boarding,” said the AFA in a statement. “It seems they are feeling the heat. Keep going! Every improvement they add now will get locked in when we vote for our union because they can’t retaliate and take it away.”
The union added, “But this also shows that Delta could have been paying Flight Attendants for boarding all along.”
So could every single other airline that the AFA negotiated contracts with, and yet they didn’t. The other airlines likely won’t match Delta’s deal for some time because that will have to be negotiated during the laborious process of hammering out new contracts.
Even then, imagine a hypothetical future where the other airlines move to match the offer. Absent union constraints, there would be nothing to stop Delta from declaring that the boarding period will now be compensated at the full hourly rate and using that selling point to continue poaching talent, especially in tight job markets like we are in now.
For another example of a company upping the ante for workers, see Starbucks. Close to 100 local Starbucks stores, of about 9,000 total, have voted to unionize in the last six months.
Starbucks will have to bargain with the unionized stores, but for the others where the company has more flexibility and does not need to go through a union, the coffee chain will give better pay and benefits.
In a May earnings call, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said, “Sharing success through wins and benefits with our partners is among our core values, and has been for 50 years,” and announced $200 million to be distributed to the non-union shops, including raises for long working employees and more training.
“They’re literally threatening to improve the material conditions at non-union stores,” complained California Starbucks worker and union organizer Joe Thompson to the Associated Press. “But they can take those benefits away at any point. If we have our contract, they can’t take those things away.”
However, with all due respect to Thompson, he has it backward. Starbucks no longer has the right to raise unilaterally the compensation for employees for those stores that have opted for unionization. By law, Starbucks can’t do that, and unions like it that way so that they can take credit for workers’ gains.
This is not solely the union’s fault. It is baked into the outdated one-size-fits-all model of collective bargaining. This model is over a century old and was created for another time and workforce. Thankfully, the Employee Rights Act, sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA), would address at least one of these issues. The ERA would allow unionized employers to give their employees raises without having to go through a union.
This is something that unions do not like because it reduces their power, even though it is better for workers.
Without the ERA, unionized Starbucks workers and non-Delta flight attendants are currently getting an eyeful of the gains that are happening well away from the negotiating table. Some might even be wondering if the current union model is working and if their dues are worth it.
F. Vincent Vernuccio is president of the Institute for the American Worker.
