Airlines Sue To Block Easier RLA Unionization Rules

On Monday, May 17, 2010, the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. filed suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prohibit the National Mediation Board from implementing its new Final Rule regarding the union election process.

The suit claims that the NMB’s rule:

violates the Railway Labor Act ("RLA"), 45 U.S.C. §§151 et seq., and is an unjustified departure from 75 years of Board practice in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act ("the APA"), 5 U.S.C. §§551 et seq.

The Associated Press reports:

Robert Siegel, an attorney for the airline association, said the NMB had rejected changing the rule on four previous occasions over the last three decades. The Supreme Court has twice upheld the right of the board to keep the old rule.

The lawsuit argues that nothing has changed since those previous decisions, other than President Barack Obama appointing Linda Puchala — the former head of a flight attendant union — to a seat on the three-member board, shifting the balance of power.

More commentary:

• "Airlines sue to block union vote rule change" — Reuters
• "ATA files lawsuit against National Mediation Board over voting rule" — ATWOnline
• "Airlines Split on Labor Rule Change" — TheStreet