Not necessarily anything to do with the merger, though it might help things along. Ground contracts get put up for bid pretty often and change hands. Air Whisky took over a lot of ground contracts for stations they didn't even fly into, I believe. During the NWA bankruptcy, they pretty much dismantled their outstations and put almost all of them up for bid. Now, it's a hodge podge of Pinnacle, Mesaba, Air Wisconsin and local contract ground personnel. Sometimes it comes out cheaper that way, but it's kinda frustrating for the flight crew since there's very little consistency from station to station.
The ground crew contracts are a good way for regionals to snag some extra cash without going after more flying.