More Than 23,000 Agents And Supporters Sign Petition Calling On The NMB To Enforce The Law

A group of American Airlines passenger service agents and supporters from the Communications Workers of America today took their case directly to the National Mediation Board’s general counsel, calling on her to move forward on the union representation election for nearly 10,000 agents.

At the NMB, the group delivered labels containing the names and mailing addresses of nearly all eligible passenger service agents. The list coincides with the eligibility list submitted by American Airlines to the NMB on Dec. 7, 2011, when CWA filed for a representation election, and the NMB’s later determination of eligible voters.

“American Airlines employees must be afforded their right to choose union representation in a free election. The timing of the election is particularly critical in this situation, as American Airlines is in bankruptcy and is using that proceeding to make immediate, structural and life changing decisions about passenger service agents,” CWA President Larry Cohen said in a letter to NMB General Counsel Mary L. Johnson.

The union accuses American Airlines of "doing everything it can think of, legal and not, to stop nearly 10,000 agents from exercising their legal right to a union representation vote. The airline has refused to turn over the list of agents who are eligible to vote, violating a direct order from the National Mediation Board." It cites in particular a lawsuit the company filed on May 2, in which American Airlines "seeks to rewrite aviation legislation and substitute its own agenda for that of Congress, so it can stop passenger service agents from having a union voice. Even in bankruptcy, American Airlines is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for the sole purpose of stopping workers who want union representation."

FMI: www.american-agents.org