The union currently representing United Airlines Flight Attendants failed to include hundreds of Continental Micronesia Flight Attendants in its single carrier request to the National Mediation Board (NMB). This omission would prevent 300 Continental Micronesia Flight Attendants from voting in the upcoming representation election.
The IAM responded to the single carrier application and is arguing for Continental Micronesia Flight Attendants to be included in the election. It was announced last year that the new United would be a three-way merger of United, Continental and Continental Micronesia.
As they have done in previous representation elections, the AFA-CWA filed for an election while another union was busy ratifying a contract. In this case, a tentative agreement currently being voted at Continental will pay a senior IAM-represented Flight Attendant $13,000 a year more than a comparable AFA/CWA-represented Flight Attendant at United.
“The IAM would never interfere with another labor organization trying to better the lives of their members,” said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “If United’s Flight Attendant union truly cared about rank-and-file Flight Attendants, they would not try to hinder a process that will help Flight Attendants provide for themselves and their families.”
The NMB is still reviewing the single carrier status of the combined Flight Attendant group, and can call for an election after they determine a single carrier exists for purposes of Flight Attendant union representation.
The IAM’s submission to the NMB is available here.
