Rep. Issa to review labor rules for airline employees

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday that he was going to look into the changed National Mediation Board rules for airline and railroad employees.

The NMB changed the rules last year to ensure that absentee votes were not counted as votes against forming an union.

That was later undone by the House, but the proposed rule consumed debate over the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill. It also caught the attention of President Obama, who promised to veto the entire FAA bill if the NMB rules were undone.

Now, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) says he wants to take a look at whether the NMB was trying to "advance a partisan policy agenda."

"We are concerned by the National Mediation Board's decision to advance a rule which allows a minority of employees to determine union representation," Issa and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), who chairs the House subcommittee on labor policy, wrote to NMB Chairman Harry Hoglander Tuesday.

"For over 75 years, the board conducted union representation elections according to the principle that a union would be certified as the collective bargaining representative only if a majority of the eligible employees in the relevant craft or class voted in favor of union representation."

Supporters of the new NMB rules argue that union elections should be conducted like elections for political office, which means that a majority would only be determined by those who show up to vote.

Some Republicans have suggested defunding the NMB if it did not change the labor rules back.

Issa and Ross requested a series of documents from the NMB about the decision and said they could have the agency brief staff of the Oversight Committee before possible public hearings on the issue.