On the heels of its Tuesday announcement of a proposal to accommodate organized labor’s wishes by radically changing the way votes are cast and counted in airline and railroad union elections, the National Mediation Board (NMB) has now scheduled a meeting (pdf) on the subject to take place December 7, 2009. The stated purpose of the meeting is to supplement the comment procedure outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by “providing another opportunity for interested persons to provide their views to the Board on this important matter.”

The meeting will take place in the Margaret A. Browning Hearing Room at the offices of the NMB’s sister agency, the National Labor Relations Board, in Washington, D.C., from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., with the possibility of a second meeting the next day if necessary. Any individual who wants to attend must notify the NMB staff no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, November 20. Likewise, anyone desiring to make an oral presentation must submit a brief outline of the presentation at the time of the request, followed by a complete written statement to be submitted by the November 20 deadline.

The announcement of the meeting may be an effort to create the impression of greater transparency in response to NMB Chair Dougherty’s well-articulated statement of opposition, as set forth in a letter to members of Congress (pdf). Dougherty exposed her counterparts as acting in an “exclusionary” manner, and in an “obvious rush” to change the NMB election procedures. However, by forcing parties to submit detailed statements by November 20, the Board arguably has effectively shortened the comment period from 60 days to a little more than 2 weeks for those parties who desire to be heard at the December 7 meeting.

In light of Member Hoglander’s and Member Puchala’s decision to push through the AFL-CIO’s agenda to ease Railway Labor Act election procedures, it comes as no surprise that the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) have both suddenly withdrawn their single-carrier election applications for employees at Delta Air Lines. The IAM withdrew its application on October 30, days before Members Hoglander and Puchala announced their proposed rule. The AFA withdrew on November 3, candidly admitting that the withdrawal was directly related to the NMB’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Without question, both the IAM and the AFA believe their chances of winning are better if the proposed rule takes effect, and they will wait for the change rather than proceed to an election under the current process.

Littler Mendelson’s Transportation Group, consisting of more than 30 attorneys who practice in the area of airline and railroad labor and employment law, will continue to track this issue and will provide further updates and commentary as events unfold.

Photo credit: ericsphotography