Labor & Employment Law

Airlines Fight Fair Election Rules

By Mike Hall

Several of the nation’s major airlines–including Delta–are mounting a huge legal battle against a new federal regulation that makes union elections for air and rail workers more fair and democratic.

The Air Transport Association and 10 of the airline industry group’s members filed suit in federal district court to block the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) May 10 ruling that says air and rail union elections must be decided by a majority of votes cast.

An election that is decided by the majority of those who vote may sound like an obvious and common sense way to decide an election. But for years, the deck was stacked against aviation or rail workers in union representation elections, because they are covered by the Rail Labor Act (RLA). Until the NMB ruling, every worker who did not cast a vote in a representation election was automatically counted as a “No” vote.

Patricia Friend, president of the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), says the old rules, “fostered a unique culture of voter suppression,” and that airlines and their

outside union-busting companies engaged in the most undemocratic of practices by openly encouraging workers to destroy ballots and to not vote.

Ed Wytkind, President of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD), said the airlines’ complaint “is baseless and should be dismissed.” He says the airlines that are challenging the new rule

are eager to retain the old system that was rigged against workers.

At Delta, AFA/CWA  will file for an election when the new rule becomes effective next month. When Delta and Northwest merged in 2008, more than 7,000 Northwest AFA members lost their collective bargaining rights and the 20,000 flight attendants at Delta were in the midst of long battle to win a voice work.

Delta management mounted a massive anti-union campaign, including harassment, videotaping and threatening union activists, says the union.  For more on the Delta flight attendants, click here.

Ground service workers at Delta are seeking representation with the Machinists (IAM). There are some 30,000 ramp workers and customer service agents at Delta, including about 10,000 from Northwest who were represented by the IAM. For more on the ground workers’ fight to join the IAM, click here.

The 10 airlines participating in the lawsuit are ABX Air, AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, ASTAR Air Cargo, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, Evergreen International Airlines, Federal Express, Hawaiian Airlines, and JetBlue Airways Corp.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on May 19, 2010 (boomark / email).