Delta Air Lines' roughly 13,000 flight attendants finish voting a week from Wednesday on whether to join the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, potentially tripling the number of union members at the largely nonunion company.

However the electronic vote turns out, two things are likely. Many of Delta's flight attendants will remain divided after the vote. And it likely will be only the opening act in a series of events that are complicated by the Atlanta carrier's planned merger with Northwest Airlines.

TODD R. McQUEEN/Special (ENLARGE)

When Delta flight attendants recently organized a rally in support of the union, Cecilia Barfield, a 12-year veteran of the company, handed out literature opposing the union.

TODD R. McQUEEN/Special (ENLARGE)

Flight attendants supporting the affiliation with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA braved the rain to drum up support in an employee parking lot on a recent afternoon.

WHAT IT MEANS Delta's roughly 13,000 flight attendants finish electronic voting May 28 on whether to join a union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Employees at the largely nonunion company rejected the same union six years ago. But this time, Delta's planned merger with Northwest Airlines complicates things. If flight attendants reject a union • Because Northwest's 5,000-plus flight attendants are in the same union, Delta is likely to face the same sort of election in a year or so, should the merger be approved by investors and federal regulators. Then the stakes will be higher for both sides. A majority of both airlines' flight attendants could support or reject the AFA. If flight attendants agree to a union • They must decide whether to negotiate a separate Delta contract or negotiate a joint contract with Northwest's flight attendants. Unlike Delta and Northwest's unionized pilot groups, blending flight attendants' seniority lists would be straightforward, experts say. DELTA MERGER Latest stories: • All eyes on flight attendant vote • Flight attendants vote on joining union • Merger benefits could take years • Civil rights coalition: Delta needs to boost diversity • What's value of merger? Depends What it means: • For employees, fliers, stock Maria Saporta: • Atlanta stays dominant in global business Have your say: • Who won? Who lost? • Tales from two cities New Web site: • Airlines give their take Rankings: • Customer service • Versus their rivals Track their stocks: • DAL | • NWA Corporate: • Memo to employees (PDF) • Bios of leadership • Merger timeline/history • Airlines set up Web site Photos: • CEOs testify • Tuesday's developments • Monday at airports • Delta through the years Maps: • Delta, Northwest hubs • New international route Video: • CEOs tout merger benefits • More Delta News • More Business News • Business Photo Galleries

"What is at stake is the over 78 years of a direct relationship with our employees," said Joanne Smith, senior vice president over Delta's flight attendant operations. "There are definitely opinions on both sides. In the end, we respect our employees' right to choose."

Delta's flight attendants may again reject representation, as they did six years ago, said Les Hough, an industrial relations consultant and former director of Georgia State University's Usery Center for the Workplace.

But the vote will at least be closer this time, he predicted. The planned merger and the "incredible ups and downs that Delta's has gone through" have increased worker uncertainty, he said, making it more likely they will want the union.

Also, under the labor law governing airlines and railroads, Delta will likely face a second challenge from the AFA after the merger. Because the union represents Northwest's 5,000-plus flight attendants, the National Mediation Board would likely schedule a second election after the merger.

"That could conceivably be a different outcome," said Hough, noting that Northwest has a mostly unionized work force. "Northwest has a different culture."

That would be an even higher-stakes contest, both sides agree, because a majority of the combined carriers' flight attendants could either reject the AFA or vote to join the union.

Mike Campbell, Delta's executive vice president in charge of human resources, said the challenge threatens Delta's long history as a largely nonunion company that has avoided strikes and historically paid employees above-average wages for the industry. He said the AFA has brought in "hordes" of outside activists to support its campaign.

AFA spokeswoman Corey Caldwell said she's confident the union will win the current contest because the union collected cards indicating interest from a majority of Delta flight attendants.

But she predicted falling wages across the industry should the union lose this election and a second one after the planned merger. "The effects that could have ... across the industry would just be devastating," she said.

Meanwhile, pro- and anti-union forces have been battling for months, with tactics ranging from legal challenges at the National Mediation Board, which has been overseeing the election, to pushing their messages to employees through rallies, mass e-mails and one-on-one pitches in employee lounges.

On a recent rainy afternoon, Delta flight attendant Al Corry and roughly 100 other union supporters were gathered outside a Delta employee parking lot near the Atlanta airport, loudly calling for the flight attendants to join the AFA.

Employees and organizers from other unions waved damp signs and cheered. Passing cars honked as they headed for the employee parking lot. Jets roared overhead, popping out of the low-hanging clouds seconds before landing.

"We're ahead of schedule and it's going great," said Corry, a union organizer. He said Delta is "fighting us very vigorously" with a blizzard of posters in employee lounges and other information, including a video sent to employees' homes in which Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson urges employees to reject the union.

But Corry predicts an outcome different from six years ago, when only 29 percent of Delta's flight attendants voted to join the AFA. This time around, many flight attendants are concerned about their job security in the wake of the planned merger and deteriorating conditions in the industry, he said.

"Management almost appears that they've given up," said Corry. "They almost seem that they've accepted that we're going AFA."

That would be news to Fran Shockley, a Delta flight attendant from Peachtree City who has been with the company 25 years. She stood across the road with two other flight attendants in Delta uniforms, huddling under umbrellas and holding signs showing their opposition to the union.

"This is a great day to be able to stand up for your management," said Shockley.

Tuesday, Ginger Kelley was at the same spot with several other flight attendants in an anti-union group called the Delta Freedom Force.

"Delta's always been good to me," said Kelley, a 16-year Delta flight attendant who said she gave up two trips worth several hundred dollars' pay to demonstrate outside the parking lot.