Union Victory at Continental Airlines

[RED DAVE]

It's a start. Note that the workers had previously rejected unionization. A Time article indicates that part of the success of the union was due to mass demonstrations at the airports in support of unionization.

Teamsters to represent workers at Continental
(AP)

DALLAS — The Teamsters Union wins an election to represent Continental Airlines ground workers who rejected bids by the Teamsters and other unions in recent years.

The Teamsters said Friday that 4,129 workers voted to join the union out of about 7,600.

The Teamsters will represent fleet-service workers including ramp and cargo agents in bargaining with Continental over wages and other contract terms.
The union already represents mechanics at the nation's fourth-largest airline.

"This is a great day for the Teamsters and for the fleet service workers at Continental," said union General President James Hoffa.

The union accused Continental of running an "anti-worker, anti-union" campaign.

A Continental executive said the company respected the workers' choice and would focus on working together.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hI0fsJGuJTaF7zlRssVGqQNncVRgD9DQRO481

RED DAVE

[Communist]

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How to Succeed after Failing: Teamsters Victory at Continental Airline (http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/succeed/)
February 13, 2010

By Carl Finamore

There are lots of colorful self-help gurus making a pretty good living
preaching their gospel of new-age techniques that just might turn around
even our worst failures. But the Teamsters Union (http://www.teamster.org/) February 12 election
victory to represent 7600 ground workers at Continental Airlines shows
that good old-fashioned hard work might be making a comeback.

Several hundred union organizers fanned out across the country and
knocked on doors in 24 cities in preparation for the vote. This time,
Teamster volunteers did not limit themselves to the large Continental
hubs in Cleveland, Houston and Newark as other unions had done in failed
organizing efforts over the last 12 years.

"We've been through this five times and I can say hands down that this
is the best campaign, the strongest campaign we've had", Gary Welsch
accurately predicted to Teamster Magazine (http://www.teamstermagazine.com/) several months before the
election in September 2009.

While air transportation remains among the most heavily-unionized
industry in the country, Continental ramp agents were also among the
largest single group of non-union employees. Now they have made the
nation?s fourth-largest airline a union shop from top to bottom.

The airline's Pilots, Flight Attendants, Mechanics and now Ground
Workers all have collective bargaining rights giving them an advantage
in recovering some of the lost ground over the last few years.

"Wages for the ramp workers start at about $10 an hour", said Chris
Moore, chairman of the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (http://www.teamster.org/content/teamster-aviation-mechanics-coalition), but only
"about half work full time". After 10 years, lead agents earn a little
more than $21 an hour, he said.

The lingering issue of low pay combined with the post September 11,
2001, severe cuts in service, dramatic reductions of routes and
draconian layoffs of employees certainly increased union awareness among
employees but the achievements of the union's national strategy must
also be recognized.

In a rather bleak year for organized labor, the results of all the hard
work is a big cause for celebration.

For the Teamsters, who organized 43,000 new members in 2008, it is
affirmation of their strategy that relies heavily on hundreds of trained
and dedicated rank and file members who attend an 'Organizers' Bootcamp (http://www.chicagoteamsters.org/news/2009/100809_JC25_OrganizersBootCamp.html)'
where they learn the skills to participate in recruiting workers to the
union.

Votes Counted even when You Don't Vote

Probably the most outrageous anachronism in U.S. labor law is the 1926
Railroad Labor Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Labor_Act) (RLA (http://www.nmb.gov/documents/rla.html)) regulation governing union elections for rail
and airline workers. The RLA requires what union activists call a 'super
majority' before any union can win an election.

The rule states that the union must win the support of the majority of
the total class and craft bargaining unit. This is unlike every other
election in the United States where the outcome is decided by a majority
of those who actually cast a ballot and not on a majority of the total
eligible electorate.

To make it even worse, the bargaining unit includes those on layoff who
are, of course, difficult to contact. In effect, those not voting out
of apathy or because they could not be reached, are counted as 'No' votes.

The Transport Workers Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Workers_Union_of_America) (TWU (http://www.twu.org/)) won a clear majority of those voting
but lost the election for Continental ground workers in 2008 because
they fell short of this 'super majority' requirement by 314 votes. The
Machinists (IAMAW (http://www.goiam.org/)) union lost at Continental under the same
circumstances a few years earlier.

The Teamsters narrowly won their election by surpassing this threshold
by only 300 votes though the 4, 102 workers who voted for the union were
an overwhelming majority of those voting.

Fortunately, the National Mediation Board (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mediation_Board) (NMB (http://www.nmb.gov/)), which administers the
RLA, has recommended changing the rule to a simple majority of those
voting. Of course, air and rail carriers are protesting but labor is
very confident the NMB recommendation will ultimately prevail.

It was a remarkable risk for the Teamsters to proceed with the
Continental election under the old rules. They were very confident of
their support. "We took a gamble and it worked", said a beaming Teamster
President James Hoffa.

Other unions, such as the Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA (http://www.afanet.org/)) and the Machinists
have postponed pending elections at Delta, for example, until the new
rule change is expected to take effect in a few months.

Under the RLA, workers are only asking for the same rights as other
voting Americans. With genuine majority rule elections, airline unions
would have won every single contest in the past twenty years.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Labor_Relations_Act) (NLRA (http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx)), covering non-RLA workers,
union elections are tainted by well-documented employer threats of
recrimination, termination and discrimination. The Employee Free Choice
Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Free_Choice_Act) (EFCA (http://www.efca.org/)) would allow workers to indicate their choice of a union away
from intimidating employer scrutiny.

Workers at Continental spoke for millions who so desperately need
collective bargaining rights in these so very desperate times.
Modernizing and democratizing election rights, in both the RLA and NLRA,
will greatly advance opportunities for working people to organize
themselves and to express their demands and desires for a better life.

Of course, these same opportunities explain the fierce opposition of the
corporate sector.
_____________

Carl Finamore (http://en.wordpress.com/tag/carl-finamore/) worked on several Continental Airlines organizing drives
with the Machinists Union. He is former President (ret), Air Transport
Employees, Local Lodge 1781 (http://www.local1781.org/), IAMAW, and currently a delegate to the San
Francisco Labor Council (http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/), AFL-CIO (http://www.aflcio.org/).