In rare maneuver, pilots eject Teamsters

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.