Now that we filed for an election, what happens next?
The National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that handles representation elections in the airline industry, has ordered JetBlue management to send the list of “potential eligible voters” to the NMB by 10:00 AM, October 18, 2022. Once the NMB receives the list of potentially eligible voters from JetBlue, the federal agency will compare the list with the election authorization cards submitted to determine if at least 50 percent of GO Crewmembers have requested the right to vote in a union representation election.
Who is eligible to vote?
All GO Crewmembers hired on or before September 17, 2022.
How will the vote be conducted?
The vote will be conducted by mail ballot. It is important that we have our most current address updated with JetBlue, as JetBlue will give the NMB the address it currently has on file when it is time for the NMB to mail us our ballot.
It is also important to know that we will vote by secret ballot and that our vote is confidential. JetBlue management is prohibited under federal law from ever knowing how we voted, or if we voted.
How long will it take the NMB to schedule our vote?
Once the NMB determines that at least 50 percent of all GO Crewmembers requested a union representation election be held (signed a card), the federal agency will schedule a voting period. If JetBlue management submits an accurate list of potentially eligible voters to the NMB, which airline management is required to do under federal law, then it is possible that the vote will be scheduled within the next few months.
However, we expect JetBlue management and their high-priced lawyers to delay the process as much as they can, and they’ve already started. JetBlue requested a week extension to submit the list of potentially eligible voters to the NMB by October 18, 2022. The list of eligible voters was originally due by Tuesday, October 11, 2022. The NMB granted their request.
Why would JetBlue want to delay the vote?
Like management at all corporations, JetBlue management wants to retain total control over all decisions. The best way for them to do that is to do everything possible to influence and coerce their employees not to unionize. When workers unionize, they have a seat at the table and the right to negotiate and vote on their terms of employment.
When workers are not unionized, they don’t have those rights (collective bargaining rights).
By delaying the process, JetBlue management and their attorneys will have more time to try and convince Crewmembers that we don’t need to unionize and negotiate a legally binding contract. It’s important that we understand that everything JetBlue management does from this point forward is to influence GO Crewmembers to remain non-union, with no legal rights and no contract.
What can JetBlue management do to delay the NMB process?
We expect that JetBlue management will make every attempt to inflate the list of potentially eligible voters by placing individuals on the list who are ineligible. For example, we expect JetBlue to place AO Crewmembers on the list.
This will force us to identify the ineligible workers and object to their inclusion on the list of potentially eligible voters. Under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), workers must organize according to “class and craft” (job classification). According to the law, GO and AO are separate classifications of work and therefore must unionize separately.
We hope JetBlue management doesn’t engage in any dirty tricks to delay our right to vote. If they try, we are prepared for anything and we will keep the Department of Labor and elected officials abreast of the situation.
What are our rights during this process?
>> We have a federal right under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), to form and join a union without interference from JetBlue management.
>> We have the right to talk to our co-workers about the Union just like we talk about any other subject at work. We have the right to hand out flyers and other information during non-work times in non-work areas.
>> We have the right to wear a Union Pin.
It’s against federal law for management to stop us from exercising these rights, or retaliate against us for exercising our federal right to form a Union. The Railway Labor Act—the federal law that gives us these rights— prohibits management from influencing or interfering with our right to join a union. Ask yourself, is JetBlue management, or any other person, trying to influence us to not unionize?
The law states, “No carrier, its officers, or agents shall deny or in any way question the right of its employees to join, organize, or assist in organizing the labor organization of their choice, and it shall be unlawful for any carrier to interfere in any way with the organization of its employees.” “All employees are free to express their desire to be represented by a labor organization or to be unrepresented.
The Carrier is not permitted to influence, interfere or coerce employees in any manner in an effort to induce them to participate or refrain from participating in an election should there be one.
