Airlines win 20-day delay in rule easing union organizing
(Bloomberg News circulated the following on May 27, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. airlines won a 20-day delay in the start date of a federal rule that makes it easier for employees to organize into a labor union.
"This gives the courts a more reasonable time frame to hear arguments and render a decision" on the carriers' motion to halt the rule, the Washington-based Air Transport Association trade group said Wednesday in an e-mail. The regulation was scheduled to take effect on June 10.
The association filed a lawsuit May 10 against a National Mediation Board rule that lets airline employees form a union with majority approval of those who vote, rather than requiring support from most workers in a class. The new rule would no longer count unreturned ballots as "no" votes.
The delay will give the court time to decide the carriers' request to halt implementation of the rule while the lawsuit is argued, the association said. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington.
The mediation board, which referees relations between labor and management at railroad and airline companies under the 1926 Railway Labor Act, adopted the change after a request by the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions.
The trade association's members include Delta Air Lines Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and FedEx Corp.
