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Re: Airlines oppose union rule change
Once again Mr. Hurst is acting as an airline publicist rather than a news reporter. Where's the other side of the story here? This is clearly an editorial; not even a weak attempt at balanced reporting.
Where are the opinions of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department leaders who filed the petition to change the rule on behalf of millions of union members?
Where is the majority opinion of the other two National Mediation Board principal officers? Members Henry Hoglander and Linda Puchala state "In political elections, those who do not vote acquiesce to the will of those who choose to participate. To allow a contrary policy could allow those lacking the interest or will to vote to supersede the wishes of those who do take the time and trouble to cast ballots. The Board's primary duty in representation disputes is to determine the clear, un-coerced choice of the affected employees and the Board believes that this duty can be better fulfilled by modifying its election procedures to rely on the choice of the majority of valid ballots cast in the election. This process will ensure that each employee vote, whether for or against representation, will be regarded with equal weight. The Board will no longer substitute its opinion for that of the employee and register the lack of a vote as a 'no' vote."
There are two sides to this story, and it's a shame that a reader has to tell the other side instead of the reporter.
Editorial: Don't change the rules on airline unionization votes
One of the major reasons behind the proposed voting rules change is an attempt by unions to counteract possible voter suppression campaigns by airline management that exploit current NMB rules that uniquely apply to railroad and airline union representation elections.
In the 2008 campaign by the Association of Flight Attendants union to represent the Delta flight attendants (before a merger with NWA was announced), Delta launched such a campagin called "Rip It--Don't Click, Don't Dial", encouraging flight attendants to simply rip up voting instructions and PIN numbers for voting by phone or online. Despite these illegal actions (found to not "rise to the level of interference" by the then Bush-appointed majority of the NMB), 40% of Delta flight attendants still called and clicked to vote for union representation.
Today, Delta continues to possibly violate NMB and even company code of conduct rules, by including references to anti-union news reports in the daily employee newsletter, in an attempt to influence voting. This activity is supposed is prohibited by the Railway Labor Act, which states in part: "It shall be unlawful for any carrier to interfere in any way with the organization of its employees, or to use the funds of the carrier...to influence or coerce employees in an effort to induce them to join or remain or not to join or remain members of any labor organization."
In the company's October 9, 2009 "Delta Daily" newsletter, emailed to every company employee (including every pre-merger Northwest employee) the company's Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Mike Campbell, is quoted as saying "This delay on the part of the unions and the NMB is unfair to Delta people, because it is a continuing distraction as we are working so hard to complete the successful integration of our two operations." Mike Campbell is a founding member of the Atlanta-based law firm Ford & Harrison. The firm specializes in representing corporate interests in labor and employment law. The company slogan is "The Right Response at the Right Time".
The NMB's policy was first applied nearly 75 years ago but is no longer valid in the modern age. With today's multiple and nearly instantaneous means of electronic communications, along with the NMB's own electronic voting, its rationale has gone the way of the steam engine. It is the position of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Department, as well as dozens of other labor organizations, that the Board's policy must be updated to meet the realities of the 21st century and restore democracy to the process.
Unions Thwart Airline-sponsored Voter Supression Campaigns
One of the major reasons behind the proposed voting rules change is an attempt by unions to counteract possible voter suppression campaigns by airline management that exploit current NMB rules that uniquely apply to railroad and airline union representation elections.
In the 2008 campaign by the Association of Flight Attendants union to represent the Delta flight attendants (before a merger with NWA was announced), Delta launched such a campagin called "Rip It--Don't Click, Don't Dial", encouraging flight attendants to simply rip up voting instructions and PIN numbers for voting by phone or online. Despite these illegal actions (found to not "rise to the level of interference" by the then Bush-appointed majority of the NMB), 40% of Delta flight attendants still called and clicked to vote for union representation.
Today, Delta continues to possibly violate NMB and even company code of conduct rules, by including references to anti-union news reports in the daily employee newsletter, in an attempt to influence voting. This activity is supposed is prohibited by the Railway Labor Act, which states in part: "It shall be unlawful for any carrier to interfere in any way with the organization of its employees, or to use the funds of the carrier...to influence or coerce employees in an effort to induce them to join or remain or not to join or remain members of any labor organization."
In the company's October 9, 2009 "Delta Daily" newsletter, emailed to every company employee (including every pre-merger Northwest employee) the company's Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Mike Campbell, is quoted as saying "This delay on the part of the unions and the NMB is unfair to Delta people, because it is a continuing distraction as we are working so hard to complete the successful integration of our two operations." Mike Campbell is a founding member of the Atlanta-based law firm Ford & Harrison. The firm specializes in representing corporate interests in labor and employment law. The company slogan is "The Right Response at the Right Time".
The NMB's policy was first applied nearly 75 years ago but is no longer valid in the modern age. With today's multiple and nearly instantaneous means of electronic communications, along with the NMB's own electronic voting, its rationale has gone the way of the steam engine. It is the position of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Department, as well as dozens of other labor organizations, that the Board's policy must be updated to meet the realities of the 21st century and restore democracy to the process.
union elections
The IAM and AFA are simply trying to have the rules changed so that the will of the majority that vote determines the outcome, just like in any other election in this country. Under current NMB rules, if you simply stay home and don't vote during the election, your inaction actually ends up counting as a "no" vote. Is this fair? Of course not, and the unions are responsibly seeking to have the NMB update this antiquated, anti-worker policy. In past elections, Delta actually posted "Give A Rip--Don't Click, Don't Dial" posters with the company logo in employee lounges, encouraging employees to simply not vote in an upcoming representational election. This practics is supposed to be against NMB rules prohibiting interference by management in an election, but the violation was considered to not have "amounted to the level of interference" by 2 of 3 NMB principal officers (the 2 Bush-appointed members) at the time. As you can imagine, Delta has filed an objection to the proposed change. Delta even references this very article in their daily employee newsletter, as supposed "idependent" credibility to support their position. Why not let the will of those that actually vote determine the outcome?
Northwest Employees Overlooked in Delta's Company Communications
Delta's daily email newsletter to employees doesn't reference the recently released findings of the 2009 Airlines Quality Report, despite the fact that Northwest Airlines improved in all four areas measured by the AQR, ranking highest of all "legacy" carries. Employees have often received recognition through company communications for past performance in the study, however, this year the outstanding performance is overlooked, despite coverage of other airline news like yesterday's announcement by American Airlines of salary and hiring freezes for most nonunion employees.
Unions Delay for Fair Vote
Nathan Hurst is either a publicity agent masquerading as a journalist, or a lazy reporter. This report (press release?) would fail even a beginning journalism class for being factually inaccurate and totally biased. No wonder Delta included a reference to the report in their employee newsletter shortly afterward.
Some real facts to consider:
Two of the three members of the National Mediation Board, Chairman Read Van de Water and Elizabeth Dougherty were both appointed by former President George W. Bush. Both members have an alleged anti-labor voting record and a history of ignoring previous, documented tactics used to interfere in a union election.
The article states "a majority of workers simply didn't vote" in a vote last year by flight attendants. What is't mentioned is that there was an active campaign by Delta called "Give a Rip" to influence flight attendants to simply rip up their ballots. Unlike most elections, NMB rules currently require a majority of all eligible voters (as opposed to votes cast) to participate for an election to be valid (this practice itself was recently questioned by the US House Committee on Transportation.
By encouraging voters to not vote at all, it is alleged that Delta successfully interfered in this election. Such interference is supposed to be illegal, however, this and other documented charges of interference were found to "not amount to interference" by Van de Water and Dougherty. Board member Harry Hoglander dissented, stating that he "believes [AFA] has established a prima facie case of election interference and that the [NMB] should conduct an investigation."
Until Chairman Van de Water is replaced by President Obama (current NMB mediator Linda Puchala was nominated March 16 and is awaiting congressional approval), both unions are responsibly delaying the process of filing for an election until the NMB is comprised of a majority with a pro-labor record.
Flight attendants from Northwest and Delta will not be able to work on the same aircraft until both are trained on each other's aircraft, a process not yet begun, so there is no chance of the two groups working side-by-side under different work rules and pay before union representation is decided--no chance of a negative impact on customers.
The quote from an unamed spokesperson that "Delta respects its employees' right to decide if union representation is right for them..." is questionable at the very least. Delta is a client of the Atlanta-based law firm Ford & Harrison. Mike Campbell is Delta's Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Labor Relations. He is also a founding member of Ford & Harrison. The firm specializes in representing employers in labor and employment law. A "legal alert" on the firm's website dated March 11, 2009, is titled "Big Labor's Assault on Workplace Democracy Begins". The "alert" is touted as an update to clients regarding what the firm calls "the perversely named Employee Free Choice Act".
The unions' tactic to delay a vote until the threat of illegal interference has been tempered has been a very smart move. The Association of Flight Attendants announced today that they will file for an election this summer.
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