With Help from AFA-CWA, Norwegian U.S.-based Flight Attendants Gain Union Representation

The Norwegian Air Shuttle Flight Attendants chose the Norwegian Cabin Crew Association (NCCA) as their union representative in an election conducted by the National Mediation Board (NMB).

This victory is the culmination of a year-long struggle by the Flight Attendants, with support from AFA-CWA, against Norwegian's efforts to deny them the right to even vote on union representation.

"Any opportunity for Flight Attendants to gain collective bargaining rights has our support," said Sara Nelson, international president of AFA-CWA. "Norwegian's attempt to evade its legal obligations in the U.S. is further evidence that it will stop at nothing to avoid U.S. and E.U. labor laws that allow workers to negotiate contracts for good jobs."

Norwegian attempted to thwart a vote by arguing that it was not the Flight Attendants' employer. With the assistance of AFA-CWA attorneys, NCCA successfully argued that NAS was the employer, and the NMB ruled that NAS and its vendor were joint employers and therefore subject to the NMB's election jurisdiction.

"This landmark decision established that anti-union employers like Norwegian cannot create phony corporate shells to deny employees their legal right to vote for union representation. We look forward to working closely with the Flight Attendants to ensure their victory will be a springboard to bring them the pay and benefits AFA has negotiated for its members around the world," Nelson concluded.