{"id":616,"date":"2009-12-30T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T15:11:11","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-08-13T15:50:56","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T20:50:56","slug":"foundation-attorneys-defend-airline-and-railway-workers-from-union-boss-sneak-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nrtw.org\/es\/blog\/foundation-attorneys-defend-airline-and-railway-workers-from-union-boss-sneak-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Foundation Attorneys Defend Airline and Railway Workers from Union Boss Sneak Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nUnion bosses want to their unions to be akin to roach motels:\u00a0 Easy to check in, but impossible to check out.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn Monday, National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Raymond LaJeunesse presented the perspective of independent-minded workers at the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) hearing<\/a> on proposed changes<\/a> to labor regulations under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) that would enable union organizers to corral tens of thousands of non-union railway and airline industry workers into union membership.\n<\/p>\n

\nUnfortunately, the NMB — the government agency charged under the RLA with mediating labor disputes within the railroad and airline industries — voted 2-1 to consider dramatic changes concocted<\/a> by the bosses of the AFL-CIO union and 30 other unions. The changes would dictate a new system in which just a majority of workers affirmatively voting in a union organizing election to impose unionization on the whole collective bargaining unit.\u00a0 The current system requires union organizers to obtain the consent of a true <\/i>majority of workers in a given bargaining unit to accept their "exclusive representation."\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Foundation’s vice president and legal director argued<\/a> before the NMB that the proposed changes further stack the deck against independent-minded workers who must compete against Big Labor\u2019s well-funded, professional organizing machine — operating across entire, often-nationwide bargaining units — to secure their right to be free from union boss "representation." The proposed scheme imposes a greater burden on employees who wish to refrain from union membership by forcing them to either take affirmative action to protect rights that should already be secure — or otherwise allow far less than a majority of their colleagues take away their independence.\n<\/p>\n

\nFurthermore, Foundation attorneys also argued<\/a> that the NMB needs establish a formal process under the RLA for workers wanting to remove a union as their monopoly bargaining agent as required under Foundation-won precedent in U.S. federal court.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo read the Foundation’s statement, click here<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nUPDATE:<\/b> On December 29, Foundation attorneys filed formal comments<\/a> to the NMB. In them, the Foundation argued key four points:\n<\/p>\n