Five Delta Air Lines employees have moved to join the airline industry's leading trade group in a lawsuit against a federal labor board. The suit challenges a new rule that would make it easier for unions to organize workers at airlines and railroads.
The Delta employees include flight attendants, a customer service agent and reservations agent. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing them free legal aid. Three of the employees are based in Georgia. They oppose unionization of their work groups and seek to intervene in the case as plaintiffs.
Delta faces union representation votes among those employees' work groups because of its merger with heavily unionized Northwest Airlines in 2008.
The Air Transport Association in its lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court claims the National Mediation Board's new rule violates federal law. The final rule announced last week would allow workers to unionize with a majority of workers who cast ballots agree to unionize, instead of the previous rule requiring a majority of the entire work force to favor unionizing.
The ATA also this week filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the rule change, pending expedited discovery and an expedited final hearing on the merits of the claims.
The NMB has said its rule change "will provide a more reliable measure/indicator of employee sentiment in representation disputes and provide employees with clear choices in representation matters."
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