AFA-CWA Reacts to Delta Payroll Settlement

Last week, Delta Air Lines agreed to pay an $8.1 million settlement to resolve allegations that it violated the agreements of the Payroll Support Program (PSP)—the Workers First COVID relief program that continued paychecks for aviation workers while capping executive compensation.

The PSP, designed and championed by AFA-CWA and unions across the aviation industry, created a first-of-its-kind, worker-oriented relief plan. The plan worked as intended, pushing funds to aviation workers, preventing layoffs, and staving off an industry-wide collapse. Additionally, the PSP capped executive pay well after the relief period ended, banned stock buybacks, and provided true oversight and accountability for airlines.

Delta Air Lines encountered significant turbulence after a whistleblower brought allegations of Delta executives using PSP funds, intended for workers, to pay themselves.

“The accountability we are seeing today could not have been possible without the career workers and watchdogs at the Department of Treasury, who enforced the PSP, the most successful worker-first relief program in our nation’s history," wrote AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson in a statement. “A key takeaway today is that a thriving, fair economy and democracy depend on unions and government oversight that puts corporate greed in check.”

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.