Dec. 3-2010:NWLP
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9:30 AM
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Machinists Union loses Delta elections; files complaint
In a pair of votes in November, In-
ternational Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers (IAM) lost a
campaign to represent 13,800 Delta Air
Lines workers. The votes follow on the
heels of a Nov. 3 loss by Association of
Flight Attendants (AFA), an affiliate of
Communications Workers of America,
among 20,000 Delta flight attendants.
IAM had the support of 46 percent
of Delta fleet service workers and 27
percent of stock and stores workers. The
fleet service vote, announced Nov. 18,
was 4,909 for the union to 5,569
against. Stock and stores vote, counted
Nov. 22, was 166 to 439.
Both groups included former North-
west Airlines workers who were already
IAM members before that airline
merged into the Atlanta-based Delta.
Both the Machinists and AFA filed
charges with the National Mediation
Board, which administers the Railway
Labor Act that governs airline labor re-
lations, citing illegal interference by
management.
AFA said Delta got flight attendants
to vote by first signing on to DeltaNet
— its in-house communications system
— before transfering them to the elec-
Voters in four states
ban union ‘card-check’
Voters in four Republican-domi-
nated states passed measures Nov. 2 to
ban the “card check” method of union-
izing. The anti-union ballot measures
were supported by 60 percent of voters
in Arizona and Utah, 76 percent in
South Dakota, and 86 percent in South
Carolina.
But the measures may be struck
down in the courts, because they en-
croach on rights protected by a federal
law, the National Labor Relations Act.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has rec-
ognized there are lawful means of union
recognition other than elections,”
William Lurye, associate general coun-
sel at the national AFL-CIO, told the
Labor Press.
As far back as the 1930s, private sec-
tor employers covered by the National
Labor Relations Act have been allowed
to recognize and bargain with a union
when a majority of employees signs
union authorization cards — without
the union having to show majority sup-
port a second time through a workplace
election. But employers may also insist
on that election before recognizing a
union. In other words, it’s the em-
ployer’s choice which method employ-
ees may use to show majority support
for union representation.
Organized labor’s top priority labor
law reform legislation — the Employee
Free Choice Act — would give that
choice to the employees. The bill
passed the U.S. House in 2007, but
failed to get enough votes in the Senate
to forestall a Republican filibuster. The
bill was reintroduced last year, but has
not gotten a vote in the Democratic-led
Congress that will end in January.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
has waged an intensive campaign
against it, and the state ballot measures
are part of that campaign. Anti-union
groups are planning similar measures
on the 2012 ballot in California,
Florida, Mississippi, and Ohio.
tronic voting site at the National Medi-
ation Board. DeltaNet allows the com-
pany to track individuals’ computer
keystrokes, meaning Delta knows who
voted for or against the union.
Earlier this year the National Media-
tion Board found Delta guilty of illegal
election interference in a union election
at Flight Simulator Technicians.
The National Mediation Board will
determine if a revote needs to occur.
A group of 16,000 Delta passenger
service workers is still voting on
whether to be in the IAM; those votes
will be tallied Dec. 7. And IAM also
seeks to represent a group of 2,200 of-
fice and clerical workers. It must first
get approval from the National Media-
tion Board before scheduling a vote.
Pilots are the only group with labor
representation at Delta.
Bend Area Transit terminates union leader
BEND — Vic Gilardin, the top
union officer at Bend Area Transit, has
been fired for what he says are pretex-
tual causes, after months of stepped-up
scrutiny from management.
Non-profit Paratransit Services,
based in Bremerton, Washington, has
the contract to manage the Central Ore-
gon city’s transit agency. It fought em-
ployees attempts to join Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 757 in 2007.
After a long fight, the union was able
to obtain a three-year contract in 2008.
But Gilardin, the bargaining unit’s liai-
son to the Local 757 Executive Board,
says management continued to target
him for minor infractions. At the begin-
ning of November, he was terminated
— told it was for having made right and
left turns incorrectly. Gilardin, 60, has
driven a bus for 25 years, first in Con-
cord, California and Las Vegas, Nevada,
and for the last five years in Bend. He
says he never received any discipline
prior to his involvement in the union.
Gilardin has filed a grievance charg-
ing wrongful termination, and said the
union is looking at filing unfair labor
practice charges with the National La-
bor Relations Board.
In the meantime, as a diehard union-
ist, he’s looking for other work at union
workplaces.
Starting in January, he expects to get
$366 a week of unemployment benefits,
but that’s less than half his previous in-
come. Still, Gilardin’s wife remains em-
ployed at the transit agency as a dis-
patcher, and Gilardin says he has no
regrets.
“My wife and I talked about it, and
she said, ‘keep up the fight,’ ” Gilardin
said. “Without a union, a company can
do whatever they want.”
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DECEMBER 3, 2010