After union setbacks, Teamsters win bid to represent Continental Airlines ground workers
By APFriday, February 12, 2010
Teamsters win bid to represent Continental workers
DALLAS — The Teamsters Union won an election to represent Continental Airlines ground workers who had rejected bids by the Teamsters and other unions in recent years.
The Teamsters said Friday that about 4,100 workers out of 7,600 voted to join the union.
The airline industry is among the most heavily unionized in the private sector. The Continental fleet service employees were the largest group of nonunion workers in the industry and had rejected unionizing in at least five previous votes, according to labor officials.
The Teamsters will represent a group that includes baggage handlers and cargo agents in bargaining with Continental over wages and other contract terms. The union already represents mechanics at the nation’s fourth-largest airline.
“This is a great day for the Teamsters and for the fleet service workers at Continental,” said union General President James Hoffa.
The union accused Continental of running an “anti-worker, anti-union” campaign.
Continental senior vice president of labor relations Mike Bonds said, “We respect the choice our co-workers have made.” He promised that the company would focus on working together.
According to the National Mediation Board, 4,102 Continental workers voted to join the Teamsters and 27 wrote in the names of other unions. With 7,603 workers eligible to vote, the Teamsters won by 300 votes.
In 2008, the Transport Workers Union fell 314 votes short in its third bid to represent the same workers. The Teamsters and the machinists’ union had also lost previous elections.
The unions faced uphill fights because under federal labor law, workers who don’t vote are counted as if they voted against union representation. Union officials say 10 to 15 percent of workers normally don’t vote.
The National Mediation Board is considering changing the voting rules to require that unions achieve a majority among those casting ballots, but employer groups are lobbying to keep the current system.
Only about 12 percent of all wage and salary workers belong to unions, according to the Labor Department. Private-sector workers are about five times less likely than government employees to be union members. The Teamsters union has about 1.4 million members.
