Unions hope to ground FAA provision on organizing votes

The Federal Aviation Administration authorizing bill should be brought back in for a landing because it contains provisions that would make it harder for airline and railroad workers to organize unions, several collective bargaining groups said Tuesday. 

The AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department and other industry unions criticizes the FAA bill for changing rules so that those who don’t vote in a union election would be counted as votes against forming a union. They argue such a system would be undemocratic. 

“The crux of what’s going on is fair elections in union elections,” said former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in a conference call arranged by the AFL-CIO. “There is no excuse to treat union elections (differently) than other elections. If we had an election (in Ohio) where people on the rolls but didn't show were counted as voting for say, the incumbent, I couldn't certify that. People wouldn't trust it.”  

West Virginia University law professor Anne Lofaso agreed, saying the provision “runs counter to the spirit of democracy.”

National Mediation Board rules were just changed last year so that absentee votes were not counted as votes against forming an election.

The new fight comes amid a national debate over public service unions, highlighted by the fight between Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic legislators in Wisconsin.

Association of Flight Attendants president Veda Shook called on members of Congress “to stand up today” and strip the rules from the FAA bill, which she called critical legislation.

“This bill is about funding states’ air travel. It should not be contemplated…to be dealing with workers, which is not germane,” she said. 

Shook argued the fight to remove the union provision was not partisan since 13 Republicans in the House had voted against it when it was first inserted into the FAA bill. An overwhelming number of Republicans supported the bill with the language included.

“This should not be viewed as a partisan battle,” she said. “It's a matter of fairness.”

The FAA bill has been delayed for more than three years. Democrats have pushed the measure as an “aviation jobs bill.”