Veda Shook, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, explains why the "compromise" on union issues (that do not actually belong) in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill
aren't actually a compromise. While the proposal drops Republicans' earlier insistence that workers who don't vote in union elections should be counted as having cast anti-union votes, it adds a host of new hurdles to workers wanting to form unions.
For one thing, in some cases, an existing union would just be dissolved. "In a merger," Shook explains, "if the larger workforce is non-union, there would simply be no election to determine representation of the combined group. The union and the contract would simply go away."
In other cases, though, hurdles galore. Accompanying the new 50 percent threshold to call for a union representation election, management would control all the information on how many people might be eligible to vote and who they were. That means they could pad the numbers required to get to 50 percent. Then, because the requirement threshold would now be written into the statute, it would be subject to litigation. That would not only allow companies to drag out the process, the union cards the workers had signed would be subject to discovery. It's a perfect opportunity for management to intimidate union supporters.
This is no compromise. Tell Congress to pass a clean FAA bill, without the union-busting.
Sat Feb 04, 2012 at 1:12 PM PT: The action has moved to the Senate, where we need 41 votes to block this provision. Call your senator.