Appeals Court Upholds Democratic Rules for Airline Union Elections

In a victory for airline workers who want a fair chance to vote for union representation, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has upheld new rules that ensure that National Mediation Board elections are held to the same democratic principles that govern all U.S. elections.

Prior to the NMB's rule change in 2010, workers who didn't vote in airline or railway representation elections were counted as "no" votes. Now, like all democratic elections, only the votes actually cast are counted.

The Court of Appeals majority opinion said the rule change, long sought by AFA-CWA and other unions, remedied decades of unfairness.

"For 75 years, the National Mediation Board counted non-voters as voting against union representation, thereby requiring a majority of eligible voters to affirmatively vote for representation before a union could be certified," the opinion stated, adding that the court rejects the airline's argument that the new rule is "arbitrary and capricious."

Doing the bidding of Delta and other airlines, many Republicans in Congress are so determined to return to the old rules that they have tied their demands to funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. Last summer, the FAA was shut down for two weeks while the debate raged and the critical air safety agency has faced continual threats of another shutdown ever since.

"Republican leaders and others obsessed with union-busting are blocking the FAA Reauthorization needlessly over a provision that a series of courts has now declared as fair and valid," CWA said in a statement. "House Republican leaders should admit that their true motive is to deny workers' their right to a union voice, rather than reach a sensible agreement over the FAA bill."