Tell Congress to Restore the FAA

GOP's Union Hatred Puts 100,000 People Out of Work

AFA-CWA President Veda Shook talks with MSNBC's Ed Schultz about the GOP's refusal to fund the FAA unless airline workers lose democratic voting rights for union election.

In an outrageous attack on workers' rights that has furloughed 100,000 workers, House Republicans are refusing to reauthorize funding for the FAA unless the bill is stripped of provisions for fair and democratic union elections at airlines.

"The House Republican leadership has been holding the negotiations over this critical funding bill hostage in their single-minded crusade against workers' right to join a union and bargain for a contract," AFA-CWA President Veda Shook said, asking CWA members to help send a message to Congress.

Until a National Mediation Board rule change earlier this year, airline workers who did not vote in union representation elections were counted as "no" votes. Now, like any other election, only votes cast are counted. But Republicans won't stand for it, even though the new rules are simply the same democratic standards that apply to all elections.

In a powerful statement on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) blasted Delta Airlines, the biggest corporate opponent of the fair election language.

"I wish I understood why the policy objections of one company — Delta Air Lines — mattered more than the livelihoods of thousands of people," Rockefeller said. "Last year, the CEO of Delta made $9 million. Delta paid its top executives almost $20 million. Yet, it is fighting to make sure its employees cannot organize for fear that they may secure a few extra dollars in their paychecks."

Rockefeller further denounced House and Senate Republicans whose inaction on the FAA bill has "thrown nearly 4,000 FAA employees out of work, stopped critical airport safety projects, hurt hundreds of small businesses, and gutted the Aviation Trust Fund, all so that Delta Air Lines doesn't have to allow its employees to organize in a fair and timely manner."

Shook said by demanding that non-votes be counted as "no" votes, "Republicans are disregarding the democratic principle that majority rules...Not one member of Congress would be in office today if they were held to the same standard in their elections."

In addition to the 4,000 FAA employees who have been out of work since last Saturday's funding deadline, more than 90,000 construction workers have been sent home from airport projects nationwide. Air traffic controllers remain on the job.

Shook, who appeared on Tuesday night's "The Ed Show" on MSNBC and earlier on his radio program, said while flights are operating now, "long-term aviation operations will suffer." The ripple effect could lead to less air travel and more job loss, she said.

Click here to tell Congress to stop playing politics with Americans' lives and jobs. The page includes a draft email, but remember that the most powerful messages are in your own words.

To read Rockefeller's full statement on the FAA shutdown, click here.