A group of about 600 airline pilots succeeded in ejecting the Teamsters as their official union Wednesday, marking the first time in nearly a century that a group of airline industry workers has managed that under the federal law covering transportation industry employees.
“This is the first time in the 80-year history of the Railway Labor Act that pilots have chosen a direct relationship with their employer rather than have a labor union interfering as a third party,” said Russ Brown, president of the Center for Independent Employees, a conservative nonprofit group.
The pilots worked for the carrier company Flexjets Flight Options. While most private sector workers are covered by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, transportation industry employees are covered by the RLA, a law passed several years earlier.
Under the RLA, severing a relationship with a union is much harder because there is no straightforward decertification process. Workers are obligated to produce a “straw man” candidate to replace the union. The National Mediation Board, the federal entity that oversees the RLA, affirmed the election result Wednesday
The Teamsters told the Washington Examiner they might contest the decertification.
“The election that concluded today at Flexjet followed a rigorous anti-union campaign,” said spokewsoman Kara Deniz. “The union is reviewing the results and will provide additional information to its membership in the coming days.”
The Teamsters narrowly won the right to represent the pilots in a 51-49 percent vote in 2015 after Flexjet was purchased and merged with theTeamster-represented company, Flight Options. The pilots objected to the Teamsters becoming their union over a variety of issues, including the merging of the seniority list, losing vacation time and decreased pay.
“This is a great day for our pilots and our company, as we know a direct relationship with our employer is best for working together building our business, improving our culture and our financial security without the baggage that the Teamsters brought to the table,” said Flexjet/Flight Options pilot Captain Frank Woelke, who served as the straw man candidate.
