WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, issued the following statement after the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the National Mediation Board’s decision to change its union election rules:
“We are pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals has validated what we have known all along: the National Mediation Board (NMB) acted well within its authority when it amended airline and railroad union election rules last year permitting a majority of those in a workplace who cast a vote to decide the outcome. Opponents of this rule have long argued that it was counter to the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and that the process used by the NMB to promulgate the rule was somehow faulty. The Court of Appeals soundly rejected these claims and affirmed an earlier District Court decision also upholding the new rule.
“This latest unambiguous ruling should clear the House and Senate to finish a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill free of the provision to repeal the NMB rule change or other controversial changes to the RLA that have nothing to do with aviation safety. The flying public shouldn’t have to wait any longer for long overdue investments in the Next Generation air transportation system that will make air travel safer.
“It is time for Congress to end the stalemate and send an air safety bill to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”
