The National Mediation Board (responsible for governing union relationships with respect to airlines and railways) has issued a new ruling that could affect airlines and their union relationships dramatically.  In the past, a campaign for unionization had to claim a majority of votes from the entire pool of laborers.  By simply not voting, it was presumed that your vote was against unionization.  Now the majority need only be of those who actually voted.

Will it affect airlines?  In the short run, yes, I think so.  I thinkt here will be a strong push to organize unrepresented labor groups at a number of airlines including Delta, jetBlue and Airtran among others.  However, I also think that this will mean that union members will simply vote instead of choosing to abstain in the long run.  I do think we’ll see some new unions at airlines. 

Is it fair to airlines?  Not in my opinion.  These rules have become too onerous and one-sided in the airline business.   I also think this will harm labor groups at the airlines.  I believe that this development will also lead to the NMB requiring longer and longer labor negotiations before permitting a strike.  Some groups are in negotiations for as much as 4 years now and the problem with that is circumstances in the airline business can dramatically change in just months.  Imagine how different the landscape becomes over 4 years?

New rules are probably in order but the structuring of those rules should give each side opportunities and risks for coming to agreement.  I suspect that one thing that led to this rule change is the rash of mergers we’ve had over the past 10 years.  Legislators see airlines growing bigger and bigger which gives the impression that they also have more and more market power among labor.   That couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

If anything, this industry needs more deregulation with respect to labor rather than more.  Airlines should be less constrained by seniority and have access to at least a semi-free market for meeting their labor needs.   Likewise, labor groups should have access to timely negotiations and contract renewals. 

All in all, I see more barriers  (as a result of this rule)  to acting in an agile manner to quickly changing markets and that will be bad for both sides.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
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