The Air Transport Association of America, which represents Delta, FedEx, JetBlue and others, is suing the National Mediation Board to prevent a rule change in the way union elections are held. The old rule needed a majority of all workers to approve, with those not voting being counted as no votes. The new rule only needs a majority of all those who voted to approve. The Air Transport Association said that the Board did not offer a good enough justification for the rule change, did not follow procedures, and failed to include a de-certification process. The rule change is expected to impact Delta in the near future, where thousands of workers are expected to vote on unionization. A spokesman for Delta said that they believe that the rule change was directed at them. The new rule was announced last week, and is set to take effect on June 10.
See "Airlines sue to block union vote rule change", Karen Jacobs, Reuters, May 17, 2010