Pilots, Meter Readers, Mechanics and More Join AFL-CIO Unions

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/05/29/pilots-meter-readers-mechanics-and-more-join-afl-cio-unions/

by Mike Hall, May 29, 2008

Pilots, translators, meter readers, mechanics and drivers are among the latest workers to win a union voice at work.



Pilots at CommutAir overwhelmingly voted to join the Air Line Pilots (ALPA). Some 135 pilots fly for the airline that operates as a Continental Connection carrier and serves 23 cities in the Upper Midwest and Northeast from its Cleveland base.


Also, the First Air Pilots Association ratified a merger agreement with ALPA. The 140 pilots fly passengers and cargo throughout northern Canada, including the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Some of the Arctic towns they serve are only accessible by air.


Capt. John Prater, ALPA president, says two of the pilots’ major issues are:

addressing pilot fatigue and ensuring the safety of winter flight operations.

In Jacksonville, Fla., 91 drivers, who operate wheelchair-enabled buses to transport people with disabilities to medical and business appointments, voted to join the Machinists (IAM). The drivers are employed by First Group, a subcontractor for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Also voting to join the IAM were seven mechanics at First Student Inc., in Villa Park, Ill.


Meanwhile in rural Maine, 72 workers at two FairPoint call centers were able to choose to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) without employer interference. The CWA successfully negotiated a neutrality and majority sign-up agreement in its recently-approved contract extension for the 3,000 former Verizon employees at the company.


Majority sign-up is a key element of the Employee Free Choice Act that would level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions and strengthen the penalties against those who use threats, intimidation, harassment and other illegal tactics to deny workers the freedom to form a union.

FULL story at link.

[The Diest]

1. Good for all of them! They are lucky to work at one of the few

places that doesn't make you sign a "I will not form a union" statement when you get hired.