The newest members of the TWU family are Kalitta Air Dispatchers. On March 5, the vote count was announced at the National Mediation Board in Washington, DC: 85% voted “Yes” for TWU representation. 
“The TWU continues our organizing success,” said President Samuelsen. “Congratulations to these workers who have just added a layer of security to their livelihoods!”
John Cash is a Flight Dispatcher for Kalitta Air and lives just outside of Detroit. He said that Kalitta Air has grown from “a Mom & Pop business to a fairly large cargo operation quite quickly” and the relationship between the employer and employee has done the opposite.
“Quality of life is a big part of it. The pay scale system is something we have never had,” Cash explained. “The company has been around in one form or another for 20-plus years and there are people there the entire time who have never moved up.
Steve Roberts, John Cash and Sean Doyle before the vote count.
“We don’t want to be employed at-will,” he continued. “We love that we are going to have union representation at the bargaining table now. We just want our lives to be better – not just for ourselves – for everybody.”
TWU Organizing Director Steve Roberts, who spearheaded the campaign with TWU Assistant Organizing Director Sean Doyle, said that the negotiating team will work for defined working conditions, hours, benefits and job security.
“I’m incredibly happy and humbled to welcome more members to our TWU family,” Roberts said. “I look forward to the next steps of negotiating a fair contract.”
“It’s no secret there is strength in numbers,” Doyle said. “Now, not only do Dispatchers for Kalitta Air have the security of union representation, but also the TWU has even more clout so we can fight for our members even harder.”