As we reported before, a group of Delta Air Lines employees — with free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation — are appealing (pdf) a U.S. District Court judge’s decision to uphold a major rule change on how a union is imposed on railway and airline industry workers.

Last June, a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge refused to impose an injunction halting the new unionization election procedures for workers in the shipping and transportation industries which were hastily instituted by the National Mediation Board (NMB).

The NMB — a government agency charged under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) with mediating labor disputes within the railroad and airline industries — voted 2-1 to dictate a new system which stacks the deck in favor of unionization by granting a union monopoly bargaining power over railway or airline industry workers if the union acquires support from just a bare majority of eligible workers in an election, no matter how few actually vote. This means that a small bloc of workers could force union boss "representation" on the whole group rather than having a true majority of all workers deciding for themselves.

The two NMB members who approved the new rule, Harry Hoglander and Linda Puchala are former union officials with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) unions — two unions that have been pushing for the change — respectively.

Earlier this week, with help from Foundation staff attorneys, the flight attendants carried on their courageous fight and filed a joint appellant brief at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. To read their appeal, click here.