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(Bloomberg)

Delta Air's ticketing, gate agents reject IAM union

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Ticketing, gate and reservation agents at Delta Air Lines Inc. rejected unionization, becoming the eighth group to do so after Delta bought Northwest Airlines.

Of the 12,518 people who cast ballots, 8,746, or almost 70 percent, voted against joining the International Association of Machinists, the Atlanta-based carrier said today in a statement. The Delta workers had been nonunion, while their Northwest counterparts were represented by the IAM.

The vote reaffirms Delta's standing as the least unionized among major U.S. carriers, dating to the company's start in the 1920s as a crop-dusting service. Union efforts have failed for at least 55,000 workers, including flight attendants and baggage and cargo handlers.

The IAM said it plans to file an interference claim over "intimidation" tactics by Delta, without providing further detail. The Association of Flight Attendants filed an interference claim last week and Delta has until Dec. 21 to respond, Mike Campbell, Delta's executive vice president of human resources and labor, said today on a conference call with reporters.

Interference claims should be dismissed because the carrier's actions during the voting campaigns were "completely within the bounds of what's allowable and acceptable," he said.

"The voice of the people should be heard and that decision respected," Campbell said.

The Delta votes are among the first under a new National Mediation Board rule that makes it easier for employees to organize by letting the majority of ballots cast determine the outcome. Previously, an abstention was counted as a "no," setting a higher threshold for unions to win approval.

Delta is the world's second-largest carrier, behind United Continental Holdings Inc., which was formed in October through the merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines.