ATA Opposes New Rule - Analyst Blog

The Air Transport Association (ATA) filed a lawsuit against the National Mediation Board (NMB) to stop the Obama administration from putting in effect the new rules for unions, which makes the organization easier to assemble workers at airlines and railroads. NMB coordinates labor relations with airlines and rail companies under the Railway Labor Act (RLA).

Airlines and railroads employ more than 500,000 workers, and about two-thirds of those are already in unions, which is much higher than the overall union membership rate of 12%.

Under the new rule, union organization would be decided on the number of votes cast. The previous 76-year-old rule required a majority of an entire work group to approve unionization, effectively counting those who do not vote as “no" votes. Thus, ATA considers the new rule to be unjustified and violating the federal law. The new rule is expected to be effective on June 10.

The companies that joined the ATA lawsuit include Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), FedEx Corp. (FDX), AirTran Airways (AAI), JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group (ALK). The major carriers -- American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corporation (AMR), Continental Airlines (CAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV), United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. (UAUA) and US Airways Group (LCC), which are already unionized, declined to join the lawsuit.

Airlines that favor the lawsuit stated that the new rule would lead to more labor disputes that could disrupt commerce and increase delays in an industry already reeling from recession, higher fuel costs and increased security hurdles.

Delta Air Lines is directly impacted by this new rule as it faces representation elections following its 2008 merger with Northwest. Both the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Association of Machinists, which represented major work groups at Northwest, are seeking to organize workers at the merged airline.

However, unions expect the new rule to help organize thousands of flight attendants, baggage handlers and gate agents at Delta, and a host of other smaller carriers, including Allegiant Travel (ALGT), JetBlue, Republic Airways (RJET) and SkyWest (SKYW).
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