Dear President Shook,

 On this Labor Day, we can't take the holiday off celebrating our union at Delta but we would like to utilize this national holiday to communicate to you.

 As you are well aware, the majority of organizers and activists at Delta decided to forge a different path of activism and organize our own grassroots campaign for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers - IAMAW.

 Our grassroots campaign began in mid June of this year and our success and excitement is stronger than it has been in many years. As organizers, we didn't jump into our IAMAW decision lightly and begin a campaign without extensively speaking with and attentively listening to our coworkers. We overwhelming heard from our coworkers how little faith they have in the success of AFA. Any union tied to AFA on the Delta property cannot possibly win an election.

 We have had to reach out and research other options and have chosen a new path toward representation with IAMAW. Our goal and mission is to run a campaign and a union that is inclusive of all the FAs at Delta; no matter how they voted in the past. Promoting IAM, we have felt amazing approval and a positive outlook.

 In the short few months of our campaign, we’ve had thousands of authorization cards inundating Washington D.C., we have established base leadership and an ever growing list of card-carrying activists that is to date close to 350. We believe we’ve had so much success due to the fact it showcases solidarity and that we, the “Delta Flight Attendants” are the union. We also believe that since our voices are being heard by one another and validated, it is much easier to run a positive inclusive campaign leading us to unimagined success in such a short time.

 All of our momentum and the excitement of this opportunity is galvanizing, however we have one problem, it may pain some of us to say this but the overwhelming problem is with AFA and the excessive baggage the AFA names carries at Delta.

President Shook with all due respect, you are ignoring the Delta Flight Attendants wishes and by keeping IAM international from assisting us in our campaign, you are using the AFL-CIO by-laws as an excuse to tie our hands. We ask you to formally and publicly, do what's right for the Delta Flight Attendants and let us choose our own union, not pressure one upon us.

 If AFA's ultimate goal is to see a future where our country and profession has 20,000 new union members, we call upon you to let us choose our union. We’ve campaigned for over a decade at Delta for a voice, let us use it and please listen to it. President Shook only the Delta Flight Attendants know what's right for the Delta Flight Attendants.

 As Delta Flight Attendants, we believe what's right for us is representation with the IAMAW. Together as unionists, we need to step up and do the right thing. Unionism is not an arena to play political games while workers rights are on the line. On this Labor Day, honor labor and our voice by releasing the Delta Flight Attendants so we can decide our own future.

 We also hope you can put your support behind us in our efforts to unionize the Delta Flight Attendant group but do so with our choice of union representation.

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