Don't Change the Rules on Airline Unionization VotesAirline unions are having trouble winning the hearts and dues of workers in the airlines industry, so they are asking their friends in the Obama administration to change the rules. If they get what they're asking for, it would have a tremendous negative impact on the transportation industry in this country. Two unions representing former Northwest Airlines workers now employed by Delta Airlines have petitioned the National Mediation Board to change the voting method for union elections. Under rules in place for the past 75 years, railroad and airline company unionization can occur only when a majority of all employees vote in favor of the move. But the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Association of Machinists, through the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, have asked the board to instead adopt a rule that a company can become unionized after a majority of those voting in a union election authorize it — even if the total of employees voting in favor in the election represent less than half of all workers. The board's composition has changed with the election of President Barack Obama, so the unions stand a good chance of prevailing. While the board is considering the rule request, it is holding up a unionization election at Delta Airlines, which recently merged with Northwest.
While a majority of Northwest's workers are unionized, a majority of Delta's are not. Unions have already lost elections at Delta under current rules. American Airlines, Continental and other airlines, which have many nonunion workers, could also be affected, as could such smaller operations as JetBlue. The impact will be higher costs on an industry constantly in struggle to stay out of bankruptcy court and ultimately higher ticket prices for passengers. The association representing the airlines makes the point that the board has previously denied its own authority to change the rules and has on several occasions denied similar requests. The board's authority stems from the Railway Labor Act of 1926, which was designed to stabilize the labor environment in the national transportation industry. If the rules are changed to allow unionization without the support of a majority of all the workers in a transportation firm, it should be done by Congress, not an unelected board. In the meantime, the National Mediation Board shouldn't hold up the unionization election at Delta. The transportation unions have every right to seek to unionize the workers, but the elections should take place under the rules that have been in place for three-quarters of a century. That's hardly an impossible task. As the airlines point out, unions have won two-thirds of the elections held under the current rules. REPRINTED FROM THE DETROIT NEWS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
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