The National Mediation Board (NMB) is well on its way to making the election process for airline organizing campaigns more democratic and fair for the nation’s airline employees.

In a two-to-one decision, the National Mediation Board has proposed to change election rules in the airline and railroad industries to allow workers to vote “yes” or “no” for union representation. The proposed change of rules would also make the outcome of an election determined by majority rule.

Currently, the votes of workers who fail to cast a ballot count as votes against forming a union.

According to the National Mediation Board, the proposed rule change “will provide a more reliable measure/indicator of employee sentiment in representation disputes and provide employees with clear choices in representation matters.”

The board will make a final decision on whether to adopt the rule after taking public comment for 60 days. At this point it is unclear if any new rule will apply to a campaign by Continental fleet service workers to join the Teamsters due to time restraints.

The Teamsters, along with 30 other unions, have been fighting diligently for the rule change. Three fleet service workers at Continental Airlines who are working to form a union with the Teamsters came to Washington, D.C. on July 29 to lobby for a fairer union election process. The three lobbied at the U.S. Capitol and met with Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and two members of the NMB appointed by President Barack Obama.

More than 1,000 Continental fleet service workers have signed a petition calling for an end to unfair election rules. Now is the time for all of us to come together and sign the petition to help support the rule changes. The petition can be downloaded from the “documents you need” section of this website.