Union targets vulnerable GOP freshmen on FAA bill

Short-term legislation funding the FAA is set to expire at the end of January. If lawmakers do not act by then, the agency will run out of money and shut down for the second time in six months.  

One of the sticking points in the talks over the bill has been a provision, backed by House Republicans, that would repeal a rule change by the National Mediation Board that changed how union elections were conducted for workers at airline and railway companies covered by the Railway Labor Act. Democrats have balked at the provision and vowed to reject any long-term bill to fund the FAA that includes it.

The old rule counts workers who didn’t cast ballots in union elections as “no” votes, while the revised rule, first issued in 2010, does not count them at all. CWA, whose members include flight attendants, has backed the rule change. 

“Both Rep. Cravaack’s and Rep. Duffy’s constituents deserve to learn of their role in voting against fair elections and remaining complicit in the continued obstruction of a sorely-needed job creation bill,” Candice Johnson, CWA’s communications director, said in a statement.