Court Upholds Fair Election Rule for Air and Rail Workers
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., today upheld the new democratic union election rule for aviation and rail workers issued by the National Mediation Board (NMBM) in 2010.
The aviation industry, led by Delta Airlines, challenged the new rule and today’s decision was the second time a federal court upheld the democratic election rule.
For decades, the deck was stacked against workers covered under the Rail Labor Act (RLA) because every worker who did not cast a vote in a representation election was automatically counted as a “No” vote. The new NMB rule says that an election’s outcome will be decided by the majority of votes cast, just like every other election, from city council to the presidency.
In a statement this afternoon, the Flight Attendants (AFA\CWA) said: Read the rest of this entry »
‘America Is One Nation and We Signify that Nation’
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Karen Bright got on a bus a little after midnight in Syracuse, N.Y., and rolled down the East Coast for seven hours because she had a message she wanted to deliver to America.
Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall as tens of thousands of union members and our allies in the human rights, faith and workers’ rights communities began filling up the wide banks of the Reflecting Pool, Bright said:
“It’s important that we make jobs the priority in this country and not all of the other issues that are dividing us. I think that’s the one issue that’s important to all of us.”
On an absolutely gorgeous fall afternoon Bright, a member of CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000, and all of the nearly 200,000-strong crowd at the One Nation Working Together march and rally, were a living example of what one sign seen throughout the crowd said.
“We March for Hope, Not Hate!”
Speaking to the crowd that spread from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the World War II Memorial, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka surveyed the vast crowd of women, men, people of color and white, gay and straight, all ages and creeds and ethnicities, and told marchers that
“America is here today. America is One Nation and we signify that nation.”
Behind the voices of fear and hatred that have risen to dominate out national conversation are the forces of
“greed, the moneyed powers that put us in the economic mess we’re in today. And we’ve got a lot of work to do to repair the damage that greed did to our country.
Airlines Fight Fair Election Rules
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 Railway 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. Read the rest of this entry »
Hundreds in Airline Industry Gain a Union Voice on the Job
More than 400 flight attendants and 170 pilots now have strong union voices after voting to join the Flight Attendants-CWA( AFA-CWA) and the Air Line Pilots (ALPA) in three elections, recently certified by the National Mediation Board (NMB).
In the latest victory for airline workers, the 300 flight attendants at Compass Airlines voted 2-to-1 for AFA-CWA representation. Compass flight attendant Catriona Bagley, temporary president of the Compass local, says she and fellow flight attendants
look forward to negotiating a contract that will provide security, as well as advance our careers. As AFA-CWA members, we will have a voice at the bargaining table and work alongside management in creating a leading regional airline contract that recognizes our role as safety professionals.
Paid Family Leave, Flight Attendant Security Measures Advance
Under bills passed by the House, federal workers are a step closer to receiving paid family leave following the birth or adoption of a new child and flight attendants would receive self-defense security training.
By a vote of 258-154, the House on June 4 passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 626), introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.). It would allow federal workers up to four weeks of paid family leave for the birth or adoption of a child and would allow workers to use up to eight weeks of accrued paid sick time or annual leave immediately following the first four weeks of parental leave. Says Maloney:
As more families are relying on just one paycheck in these times, we can’t afford not to help them in this way. The federal government should join the majority of the private sector—including 75 of the Fortune 100—by enacting workplace policies that invest in employees and their children. It’s just unacceptable that right now the U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not provide support for federal workers with a new child.
