Kip Hedges, the Delta Airlines baggage handler fired for speaking up for low-wage airport workers, plans to appeal his termination, going to court if necessary. And he said he will keep fighting for worker rights at Delta, including the right to union representation.
Hedges, a 26-year airline employee and known union activist, was fired on Dec. 2 for comments he made in a Workday Minnesota video in support of the campaign to raise the minimum wage at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to $15 an hour.
In such a situation, some people might have walked away. But Hedges said he won’t let down the many co-workers and others who have stepped forward to stand with him.
“If I was out there by myself, it would be way different,” he said. “My co-workers have my back. I’m getting literally hundreds of phone calls and texts from around the country . . . I know that the Minnesota labor movement has my back and that makes a huge amount of difference.”
On Tuesday, Hedges will file an appeal through Delta’s internal process. If the firing decision is not reversed, he will pursue his case in federal court, filing suit for wrongful termination.
Transportation workers, including airline employees, are covered by the federal Railway Labor Act. Unlike other private sector workers who are protected by the National Labor Relations Act and can appeal workplace rights cases through a federal agency, transportation employees must go directly to the courts for recourse.
Hedges said he also will keep working to organize a union at Delta.
“I’m planning to continue working with people in Minneapolis and the Upper Midwest at Delta to push through the union drive and helping with the 15Now effort” for a higher airport minimum wage, he said.
“People are nervous, but they’re angry” about the firing, Hedges said. “More people are signing cards for the union.”
The Delta Ramp Organizing Committee, which is backing union representation, will be setting up a bank account and a fundraiser to help Hedges with expenses while he appeals his case.
On Dec. 5, hundreds of people, including co-workers and members of other unions, cheered Hedges when he spoke at a rally advocating higher wages for airport workers.
An online petition calling for his reinstatement had garnered more than 1,000 signatures as of Monday evening. Supporters also created a Twitter hashtag, #IAmStandingWithKip.
Over the weekend, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal conducted an online poll asking, “Should Delta un-fire a MSP baggage handler who spoke out on pay?” Of the 2,423 respondents, 87 percent said Hedges deserved to get his job back.
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Kip Hedges, the Delta Airlines baggage handler fired for speaking up for low-wage airport workers, plans to appeal his termination, going to court if necessary. And he said he will keep fighting for worker rights at Delta, including the right to union representation.
Hedges, a 26-year airline employee and known union activist, was fired on Dec. 2 for comments he made in a Workday Minnesota video in support of the campaign to raise the minimum wage at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to $15 an hour.
In such a situation, some people might have walked away. But Hedges said he won’t let down the many co-workers and others who have stepped forward to stand with him.
“If I was out there by myself, it would be way different,” he said. “My co-workers have my back. I’m getting literally hundreds of phone calls and texts from around the country . . . I know that the Minnesota labor movement has my back and that makes a huge amount of difference.”
On Tuesday, Hedges will file an appeal through Delta’s internal process. If the firing decision is not reversed, he will pursue his case in federal court, filing suit for wrongful termination.
Transportation workers, including airline employees, are covered by the federal Railway Labor Act. Unlike other private sector workers who are protected by the National Labor Relations Act and can appeal workplace rights cases through a federal agency, transportation employees must go directly to the courts for recourse.
Hedges said he also will keep working to organize a union at Delta.
“I’m planning to continue working with people in Minneapolis and the Upper Midwest at Delta to push through the union drive and helping with the 15Now effort” for a higher airport minimum wage, he said.
“People are nervous, but they’re angry” about the firing, Hedges said. “More people are signing cards for the union.”
The Delta Ramp Organizing Committee, which is backing union representation, will be setting up a bank account and a fundraiser to help Hedges with expenses while he appeals his case.
On Dec. 5, hundreds of people, including co-workers and members of other unions, cheered Hedges when he spoke at a rally advocating higher wages for airport workers.
An online petition calling for his reinstatement had garnered more than 1,000 signatures as of Monday evening. Supporters also created a Twitter hashtag, #IAmStandingWithKip.
Over the weekend, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal conducted an online poll asking, “Should Delta un-fire a MSP baggage handler who spoke out on pay?” Of the 2,423 respondents, 87 percent said Hedges deserved to get his job back.