For Air, Rail Workers, NMB Rule Means ‘Democracy Won Today’

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AFL-CIO News Blog

by Mike Hall,

A new rule issued this morning by the National Mediation Board (NMB) means airline and rail workers will now be able to choose whether to join a union under rules that are more fair and more in line with democratic principles.

For decades, the deck has been 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.

Patricia Friend, president of the Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), says that flight attendants and other aviation and rail workers “have faced significant obstacles in their quest for collective bargaining rights.”

Outdated and unreliable voting procedures have fostered a unique culture of voter suppression as companies understand that impeding union organizing merely requires preventing employees from voting.

See the FUUL story at link.

Read more: http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/05/10/for-air-rail-workers-nmb-rule-means-democracy-won-today/

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[pattmarty]

1. Watch out Fed Ex, the union is coming for ya.

[Jefferson23]

2. APPLAUSE!!!!!!!!!

:party: :toast: :thumbsup: :fistbump:



:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[unkachuck]

3. Excellent!....n/t

[demosincebirth]

4. BRAVO!! Great news!

[SoapBox]

5. Delta ramps up against this...

...I just heard that Delta (almost all non-union, except for pilots AND, the former Northwest employees, that have not yet been merged into Delta), is going to try and ramp up an effort to overturn this.

The company is trying to keep unions out, doing everything they can, including spending millions on union-busting companies.

Go New Ruling!