NMB and Legal News
RAILWAY LABOR ACT
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- You have the legal right to form a union at work and talk to
fellow employees about joining the union.
- The company does NOT see the cards you send to the union
nor do they receive a list of names of those who sign cards
from the NMB once an election has been filed for.
- You have the right to talk about the union without a
supervisor threatening you or your job as long as you are
doing it in a non-work area at non-work times. If you are
working you can talk about the union as long as it doesn't
interfere with your jobs and there are no customers present.
- If a supervisor is breaking the above rules and advises you
otherwise or they tell you to remove any union information
from view or tell you to do something you feel is not right
under RLA rules, do so, but write down dates, times, what
took place, get witness names, and contact the union as
soon as your shift is over. You may also fill out the report
below. Click on "Report of Conversations" below.
- Management may also not threaten to cut your pay or
benefits or to close an office if a union is voted in. They may
also not threaten more outsourcing because you vote for a
union. We've actually had more outsourcing and office
closures than ever before and that's without union
representation.
- If you have ANY questions about the Railway Labor Act or
the National Mediation Board you may go to www.nmb.gov or
call the union at 817-868-9933. You may also send an email
to: cwa4aa@sbcglobal.net
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| Click on NMB seal to left to be directed to their website. |
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, which
represents workers in every industry covered by the Railway
Labor Act, has filed a petition with the National Mediation Board
to amend the procedural manual to require a “Yes or No” ballot
in representation elections – the procedure in every other
election in America.
This is good news for all airline employees wanting union
representation because airline employees have been subjected
to the strictest election rules in the country. Currently in the
airline industry, under the NMB, all eligible employees start out
as a NO VOTE. This means that every employee is considered a
NO VOTE unless they override it with a YES. During NMB
elections employees who wish to "Sit Out" the vote are actually
considered NO.
The Board will review the TTD petition and give its decision.
They will provide a timetable to resolve the ballot question. It is
expected that there will be the normal period for public and
corporate comment following the Board's initial response
regarding the TTD petition.
We expect that American Airlines management will jump on the
bandwagon with Delta Airlines and others, including a list of
anti-employee Senators and other political figures to fight the
procedure manual change. NMB elections are the only
elections in the country that are handled this way. If all political
elections were held in the same manner as NMB elections are,
it would mean that nobody would be elected to office if at least
50% + 1 registered voter voted in any election.
The current procedures for NMB elections were put into place
back in the 20's when rail was the jurisdiction of the Railway
Labor Act. The board can act alone to change the rule and
bring it current with all other union elections. For over 70 years
NMB elections have required that a union gain more than 50%
support of ALL eligible members, including those who don't
vote.
Many companies have taken advantage of the "50% +1" rule by
padding the eligibility lists of employees who no longer work for
the company. This happened in our last election in 1998.
Airline management and anti-union political figures want the
procedure to stay the same because they know how hard it is
to win a union election in the transportation industry. The
question to ask any management person who tries to convince
you that the current procedure is the only way to vote would be:
"How about if we keep the current way of voting but let's have
everyone start out as a YES vote instead of a NO, and only those
who don't want the union should vote to cancel out the YES"?
Of course their answer would be NO, even though the actual
procedure would be the same.
represents workers in every industry covered by the Railway
Labor Act, has filed a petition with the National Mediation Board
to amend the procedural manual to require a “Yes or No” ballot
in representation elections – the procedure in every other
election in America.
This is good news for all airline employees wanting union
representation because airline employees have been subjected
to the strictest election rules in the country. Currently in the
airline industry, under the NMB, all eligible employees start out
as a NO VOTE. This means that every employee is considered a
NO VOTE unless they override it with a YES. During NMB
elections employees who wish to "Sit Out" the vote are actually
considered NO.
The Board will review the TTD petition and give its decision.
They will provide a timetable to resolve the ballot question. It is
expected that there will be the normal period for public and
corporate comment following the Board's initial response
regarding the TTD petition.
We expect that American Airlines management will jump on the
bandwagon with Delta Airlines and others, including a list of
anti-employee Senators and other political figures to fight the
procedure manual change. NMB elections are the only
elections in the country that are handled this way. If all political
elections were held in the same manner as NMB elections are,
it would mean that nobody would be elected to office if at least
50% + 1 registered voter voted in any election.
The current procedures for NMB elections were put into place
back in the 20's when rail was the jurisdiction of the Railway
Labor Act. The board can act alone to change the rule and
bring it current with all other union elections. For over 70 years
NMB elections have required that a union gain more than 50%
support of ALL eligible members, including those who don't
vote.
Many companies have taken advantage of the "50% +1" rule by
padding the eligibility lists of employees who no longer work for
the company. This happened in our last election in 1998.
Airline management and anti-union political figures want the
procedure to stay the same because they know how hard it is
to win a union election in the transportation industry. The
question to ask any management person who tries to convince
you that the current procedure is the only way to vote would be:
"How about if we keep the current way of voting but let's have
everyone start out as a YES vote instead of a NO, and only those
who don't want the union should vote to cancel out the YES"?
Of course their answer would be NO, even though the actual
procedure would be the same.
| Procedural Manual Change Requested at the National Mediation Board. |
Georgia GOP battles airline unions by Bob Keefe / Atlanta Journal-Constitution January 8, 2010 |
| 30 GOP House Members think voting for a union should be different then voting for them!! |
The undersigned are officers of the Association of Passenger Service Agents/CWA Local
6001, and we would like to add our voices, and the voices of the agents on the attached
petitions, to those who have already spoken on the proposed changes in voting
procedures to the RLA under docket number C-6964.
Under the RLA, carriers are supposed to remain neutral during a campaign for
representation. However, they do not do so. You heard from Delta Flight Attendant
Marianne Bicksler about the "aggressive union avoidance tactics" instituted at Delta while
she was an in-flight supervisor.
Ms. Bicksler described a multi-track strategy:
a. suppress the vote of active employees
b. pad the list to create more NO votes
c. make the list of eligible voters inaccessible to stifle communication among them
This mirrors American Airlines tactics during our 1998 campaign.
Since that time, the agent ranks at American Airlines have shrunk by about 50% due to
retirements, leaves, station closings, and station conversions to American Eagle.
Some of these lost agents have recall rights for 10 years so remain eligible to vote. Having
gone on to new lives and perhaps new locations, they are unlikely to return a ballot, if one
even finds them; so they are automatic NO votes under current procedures, possibly
running into the thousands.
In fact, under current procedures, even the deceased can vote NO, as happened in a
recent Delta election. However, under the proposed procedural changes this contentious
issue becomes moot. Value would not, and indeed should not, be assigned to an
abstention.
We urge you to let both YES and NO ballots be counted and the majority of those who
choose to participate rule. After 75 years, this will finally level the playing field and leave us
with a fair election process in line with democratic principles.
Richard Shaughnessy Sandy Josephson Mike Lo Vuolo
President Secretary Treasurer
6001, and we would like to add our voices, and the voices of the agents on the attached
petitions, to those who have already spoken on the proposed changes in voting
procedures to the RLA under docket number C-6964.
Under the RLA, carriers are supposed to remain neutral during a campaign for
representation. However, they do not do so. You heard from Delta Flight Attendant
Marianne Bicksler about the "aggressive union avoidance tactics" instituted at Delta while
she was an in-flight supervisor.
Ms. Bicksler described a multi-track strategy:
a. suppress the vote of active employees
b. pad the list to create more NO votes
c. make the list of eligible voters inaccessible to stifle communication among them
This mirrors American Airlines tactics during our 1998 campaign.
Since that time, the agent ranks at American Airlines have shrunk by about 50% due to
retirements, leaves, station closings, and station conversions to American Eagle.
Some of these lost agents have recall rights for 10 years so remain eligible to vote. Having
gone on to new lives and perhaps new locations, they are unlikely to return a ballot, if one
even finds them; so they are automatic NO votes under current procedures, possibly
running into the thousands.
In fact, under current procedures, even the deceased can vote NO, as happened in a
recent Delta election. However, under the proposed procedural changes this contentious
issue becomes moot. Value would not, and indeed should not, be assigned to an
abstention.
We urge you to let both YES and NO ballots be counted and the majority of those who
choose to participate rule. After 75 years, this will finally level the playing field and leave us
with a fair election process in line with democratic principles.
Richard Shaughnessy Sandy Josephson Mike Lo Vuolo
President Secretary Treasurer
| Read the letter below that was sent to the NMB supporting the proposed NMB procedures, from the Officers of Local 6001. |
| Click below to read letters of support from Washington. |
Thanks to you and tens of thousands of other airline
employees, the National Mediation Board heard you loud and
clear. If you want to be counted in a union election you have
to vote. Today, May 10, 2010, the NMB announced that airline
union elections will be conducted using “YES/NO” balloting
procedures. In past transportation industry union elections
eligible voters were automatically counted as a NO vote
unless you overrode it by voting for union representation.
This meant that people who never received a ballot or those
who just wanted to sit the election out were a vote against
union representation. Now you must vote to be counted.
Although the process is now fairer than ever before for
employees seeking union representation, we must still reach
out to every agent at airports and reservations to talk about
having a voice on the job. We have been reaching out to
agents across the country about the importance of having
representation and a say in our wages, working conditions,
and benefits. Although all employees know that industry has
been in a constant state of turmoil since 9/11, most us realize
that without a voice we accept what is given to us and taken
away from us without the opportunity to negotiate. At
American Airlines alone we have lost over 11,000 agent jobs
since 2003, some to retirement and early outs, but most to
outsourcing, technology, and eight reservations office
closures. American Eagle turnover since our last election is
over 50% of the work force.
The bottom line is that we are the only front line employees at
both American Airlines and American Eagle that are not
represented and we don’t have a say in our wages, working
conditions, and benefits. At both airlines we live with rules
that change daily under the guise of “local procedures”. With
a union contract we can all be involved in the process of
negotiating with management what would work best for us
as a group and the company as a whole. Represented
employees at airlines that have filed bankruptcy have had
more say in their careers than we have.
Both American Airlines and American Eagle agents can
update their information with us by filling out the “Interest
Card” on our website at www.apsa6001.org. You will soon
receive an interest card in the mail. If you have already sent
one in recently, please pass it on to a fellow employee. If you
are ready to help us move forward at your location, call us at
817-868-9933.
| The National Mediation Board Has Made a Decision!! Vote if you want to be counted. |
THE RULE CHANGE WILL GO INTO EFFECT ON JUNE 30TH.
CURRENTLY THE AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
ALONG WITH A HANDFUL OF AIRLINES AND SENATORS, NOT
INCLUDING AMERICAN AIRLINES, ARE FIGHTING THE RULE
CHANGE. SOME CARRIERS DON'T BELIEVE THE SAME
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN ALL OTHER ELECTIONS SHOULD
BE AFFORDED TO AIRLINE EMPLOYEES. WATCH FOR
UPDATES.
CURRENTLY THE AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
ALONG WITH A HANDFUL OF AIRLINES AND SENATORS, NOT
INCLUDING AMERICAN AIRLINES, ARE FIGHTING THE RULE
CHANGE. SOME CARRIERS DON'T BELIEVE THE SAME
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN ALL OTHER ELECTIONS SHOULD
BE AFFORDED TO AIRLINE EMPLOYEES. WATCH FOR
UPDATES.
| WHAT ARE OUR RIGHTS TO FORM A UNION? |