Arcane Labor Law Counts the Votes of Non-Voters

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/11/06/arcane-labor-law-counts-the-votes-of-non-voters/

by Tula Connell, Nov 6, 2009

Imagine voting on a ballot initiative and knowing that everyone who didn’t show up at the polls still got to vote—because their votes would be counted as “No.”

That’s the process for airline and railway workers when they vote on whether to join a union. The election results are tallied not by how manypeople voted—but by the entire pool of workers in the bargaining unit, with all non-voters automatically “casting” a “No” vote.

Given the undemocratic process, it’s no surprise these workers have an even harder time than usual getting a union voice on the job.

Unlike most of the nation’s workforce, airline and railroad employees are governed by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which was passed more than a decade before the Depression-era National Labor Relations Act that created the bulk of our nation’s labor laws.

The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) and its 32 unions in September requested the National Mediation Board (NMB), which governs the RLA, to allow airline and railroad workers to vote either “Yes” or “No” for union representation and to determine the outcome by a majority of the votes cast. Majority voting. What a concept.

And this week in a 2–1 majority, the NMB proposed new rules. But it’s not a done deal. The NMB has said it will decide whether to adopt the proposed rule after the 60-day public comment period, but its adversaries started campaigning against this weeks ago.

FULL story at link.