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AFL-CIO wants labor board intervene in fight with United Airlines
The nation's largest labor federation is calling on the National Mediation Board to step into a fight between pilots and United Airlines.
United is still trying to navigate a 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, and the AFL-CIO said Monday that the National Mediation Board should force the airline to conclude negotiations about a new labor contract with pilots from both of the combined airlines.
"The Railway Labor Act has triggers that can help negotiations progress, of which one of these is the National Mediation Board," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka wrote in a letter to NMB Chairwoman Linda Puchala.
"But without definitive timelines, negotiations can go on endlessly for years, and this has been the case for many U.S. carriers," he continued. "We believe that the United and Continental pilots have suffered under their deeply concessionary contract for long enough — it is time for definitive action."
The NMB has overseen the negotiations involving the pilots and United, but the AFL-CIO called Monday for the panel to offer arbitration in the case.
"Our belief is that despite the intense and prolonged effort in negotiations, mediation has not succeeded, and we believe a release will be the only trigger to a successful completion of the negotiation process," Trumka wrote.
United has reached deals with other groups of employees, such as Continental flight attendants, but a deal with pilots has remained elusive.
-This post was corrected June 19 at 9:34 p.m. from an earlier version that confused the National Mediation Board with the National Labor Relations Board.
