Signers Support Rule Change Regarding How Votes Are Counted In Union Organizing Elections

A total of 178 Members of Congress signed a letter to the National Mediation Board Monday in support of a rule change regarding the way votes are counted in union organizing elections for aviation and railroad workers.

Currently, a vote to organize for collective bargaining purposes under the Railway Labor Act requires approval of a majority of the workers to be included in the proposed bargaining unit.  Non-voters are counted as “no” votes. The letter argues that the rule should be changed to require a majority only of the votes cast.

“If a worker does not vote, he or she is counted as voting against unionization. In any election, there are a variety of reasons why eligible voters may not vote. Yet, current NMB procedures treat a non-vote as a vote for a specific position: ‘no union.’ We believe such an election system is inappropriate for any industry. The process is all the more flawed in a setting where voter rolls include significant numbers of furloughed employees who are not in regular communication with other voters,” the letter reads, in part.

"The Members contend that such procedures provide employers with an inappropriate incentive to suppress voter turnout, and provide an inaccurate measure of employee sentiment. We see no convincing policy reason or legal precedent to require, in an election process, an absolute majority of all eligible employees to cast a ‘yes’ vote for representation; and see no reason to continue to subject aviation and rail workers to this exceptional standard,” the letter states.

The letter was authored by Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar (pictured, above) (D-MN) and Committee on Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-CA).

FMI: http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/press/NMB%20final%20signon%20ltr_12.7.09.pdf