Posts tagged Railway Labor Act
New Study Finds Unions Promise More, Deliver Less for Workers
August 29, 2025 // From 2015 to 2024, wages in most unionized NLRA jobs grew by 26%. In contrast, the least unionized NLRA jobs grew by 36%, the fastest growth of any group studied. “These findings underscore that over the past decade workers have not realized gains from aggressive union leader tactics” said Eric Hoplin, CEO of NAW. “In fact, the opposite trend is clear: the least unionized workers have seen greater wage growth.”
Hundreds of Lufthansa Technicians at Rafael Hernandez International Airport Secure Vote to Remove IAM Union
August 13, 2025 // Majority of technicians signed petition demanding union ouster vote; IAM officials used allegations against employer in unsuccessful attempt to block vote
Delta workers push for a vote to unionize in MN
January 27, 2025 // Gores said it’s not as easy for them to unionize like other companies. He said they are restricted by the railway labor act. Employees have to sign an authorization cards that are only valid for one year. He said it’s challenging to get people to resign each year. Gores said they need 9,000 or more authorization cards to be able to file for an election.
Brightline files lawsuit challenging onboard attendants’ unionizing effort in Florida
January 23, 2025 // The National Mediation Board ruled in favor of the union in November, thereby rejecting Brightline’s argument that they did not fall under their jurisdiction. A mail ballot election began last November, lasting through Tuesday, Jan. 14. A vote count revealed that onboard attendants voted 30 to 17 in favor of unionization, with 36 additional eligible voters sitting the election out.
Delta flight attendants remain without a union but advocates are hopeful for a future vote
December 9, 2024 // Delta Air Lines is the only major U.S. airline without a union for its flight attendants. In the past, there have been three failed attempts by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the union representing flight attendants, to organize this work group.
Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
November 18, 2024 // But Hartford said “the morale is still poor” on most railroads after all the cuts and there is a strong feeling among some workers that maybe they could get more if they fight longer, so the Machinists rejected that deal. Conductors have also voted down all but one small deal on part of BNSF they have considered so far, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union has been unwilling to sign onto any of these early deals. Plus, the third largest union that represents track workers split on the deals it voted on so far.
The next president may face a ‘January Surprise’: Port strikes
October 31, 2024 // Pay isn’t the issue. There’s a whopping 62 percent pay increase for the ILA already on the table. The issue is that the union wants no further automation of the ports. That’s not reasonable. US ports are already far behind the international standard for automation. CEI has proposed a way to avoid these potential crises in the future: put the ports under the authority of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), as opposed to the National Labor Relations Act’s (NLRA), the law that currently covers them. The RLA gives the president and Congress the power to step in and force a contract. That type of intervention isn’t ideal, but the threat of it will likely force both the union and management to reach a deal quicker. Congress would have to amend the RLA to make that happen and it isn’t likely to get around to it in time to prevent another walkout by the ILA before January.
Commentary: Democracy Is at Risk and on the Ballot in November Employee and Employers Are at Risk
October 27, 2024 // With membership down to a little more than six percent in the private sector, unions have grown desperate. They have run a highly effective PR campaign to reinvent themselves as human rights groups, appealing to the millennials and the plurals which are making up the workforce. As Vincent Vernuccio has recently written in his report, “Unions Need Democracy, “private sector unions are becoming less democratic and representative — even as they claim to represent all workers at unionized worksites. Ninety-five percent of union members in the private sector never had the opportunity to vote to be in the union.”
Port Strike Halts: Now What? Commentary
October 9, 2024 // Even a new contract agreement, if it does not fundamentally address American port uncompetitiveness, would prove to be only a six-year punt. Legislation has been introduced to move port workers from the main National Labor Relations Act governance structure that applies to most private-sector workers to the Railway Labor Act, which governs the railroad and airline industries. This change would give Congress and the administration more power to impose a negotiated settlement and prevent strikes, but the idea has been batted around for nearly a decade.
United Airlines flight attendants say they’re ready to go on strike
August 29, 2024 // When the vote on whether to authorize a strike was called for last month, the union said that it was meant to increase pressure on United to reach a deal. The flight attendants’ contract ran out in 2021.