121 Lawmakers Tell American Airlines to Obey the Law

American Airline's 10,000 passenger service agents are entitled to choose for themselves whether or not they are represented by a union, 121 members of Congress told CEO Tom Horton in a strongly worded letter Monday.

The letter clearly states that Congress did not intend to retroactively enforce a new law that requires 50 percent of employees to show interest in union representation before the National Mediation Board can schedule an election — shooting down the key argument currently blocking the vote.

The letter cites an exchange between two senators during debate on the legislation regarding this specific issue:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa): "Am I correct that the showing of interest requirement set forth in this legislation should only apply prospectively and should not apply to any application for representation pending at the time of the effective date of the legislation?"

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.): "Yes."

The law had passed in February. At that time, CWA, on behalf of agents, had already petitioned for an election date the previous December, and the NMB used the original threshold — 35 percent of employees expressing interest — when it called for a vote starting on May 17.

But American Airlines has since used every tactic possible to stop workers from voting. First the airline refused to provide the names and addresses of employees so they could receive their ballots. So CWA made its own labels, which the NMB accepted and rescheduled the delayed election to begin on June 21.

Then American Airlines filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth to block the election, and Judge Terry Means recently agreed that the 50 percent rule was in effect.

"We are disappointed that you sought a legal injunction instead of proceeding with the union representation election once the statutory requirements for holding that election were met by the Passenger Service Agents," members of Congress wrote. They added, "We are confident that congressional intent on this issue is clear, despite the recent showing by U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means."

The Justice Department has appealed the district court's decision and further appeals court proceedings are scheduled for October.

The full text of the lawmakers' letter can be found here.

Tell American Airlines to stop squashing their employees' right to vote by writing your own letter here.