Mediation Board Proposes Changes to Democratize Union Elections at Airlines, Rail

by Mike Hall, Nov 2, 2009

Bt a 2-to-1 margin, the National Mediation Board (NMB) says it’s time to bring democracy and majority rule to rail and airline workers voting whether to join a union.

The NMB today proposed changes to airline and rail election rules to mirror the rules that govern every other democratic election—the outcome is decided by the side that receives the majority of votes cast. Under current rules, every worker who does not cast a vote is counted as a vote against forming a union.

Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), says the NMB’s proposed changes are “fair and sensible.”

The deck is currently stacked against airline and railroad workers. The NMB is proposing new rules that would finally permit airline and rail workers to vote for unions under the same standards found everywhere else in our system of democracy. With this change, never again will workers in these industries seeking to form a union be thwarted by such un-democratic rules.

In its notice of the proposed change in the rules, the NMB says change to majority rule will

provide a more reliable measure/indicator of employee sentiment in representation disputes and provide employees with clear choices in representation matters.

In September, the TTD requested the board reform the election procedures, noting that just because a worker does not cast a vote, it doesn’t mean he or she does not want a union. It just means a worker didn’t vote. In many cases, pressure from company management keeps workers from the polls.

In a recent column on Huffington Post, Wytkind says the airline industry uses the current non-democratic voting rules to thwart workers’ choice to form a union and bargain for a better life.

Unionization in the airline industry has slowed in recent years. Why? Union-busting campaigns are alive and well—because the current election policy encourages and rewards employer-run voter suppression campaigns. For example, almost 100 percent of Delta flight attendants voted in favor of unionization in 2008. But thanks to Delta’s campaign to discourage its employees from voting (the company called it “Give a Rip” and was essentially instructing employees to destroy government-issued ballots), turnout was below 50 percent and the overwhelming support for a union was nullified.

The NMB says it will make a final decision on the rule change after a 60-day comment period. Comments may be submitted by mail or hand delivery to the National Mediation Board, 1301 K St., N.W., Suite 250E, Washington, D.C. 20005; by fax to 202-692-5085; by e-mail to legal@nmb.gov; or through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.

Says Wytkind:

The NMB majority has demonstrated its commitment to fair union election procedures. Airline and rail workers are seeing their government take steps today to ensure that union elections are run under American norms and standards that have stood the test of time for more than 200 years.

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