United Airlines Attendants Union Seeks Step Toward Representation Election
United Airlines’ flight attendants union asked a federal labor board to set the stage for a vote on which labor group will represent the 24,300 attendants at the newly created parent company of United and Continental airlines.
Today’s request by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is the first from unions representing workers at the two companies, which combined on Oct. 1 to form United Continental Holdings Inc. The National Mediation Board must declare the airlines a single carrier before votes on union representation for the combined workforce.
The filing steps up a conflict between the AFA, which represents United’s 15,000 attendants, and the Machinists, representing 9,300 Continental workers. The AFA last year said the Machinists rejected requests to work together on contract talks at each carrier to secure greater benefits.
“Flight attendants have not been able to capitalize on the incredible opportunities that are available in this merger,” Sara Nelson, AFA international vice president, said in a conference call with reporters. “What’s standing in the way is resolving this representation issue, so we don’t want to wait another day.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net
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