Marathon Pundit: NMB overreach: Christmas rail strike averted?

Friday, December 02, 2011

NMB overreach: Christmas rail strike averted?

Christmas, Michigan--Upper Peninsula

Will the Polar Express be derailed by a strike?

Since the NLRB does not have jurisdiction over the railway industry, it's time to revive NMB Overreach.

The Daily Caller:

UPDATE: Late Thursday night, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association reached a tentative agreement with the nation’s major freight railroads. The agreement was reached after mounting congressional pressure urged a settlement, to avoid a strike that could have cost the economy billions.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the final remaining union without an agreement, has agreed to extend talks until February 8, 2012.

Now we get to the overreach--and the fighting back part. From The Hill:

House Transportation chief Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) fired the latest salvo in the fight over labor rules for transportation workers Thursday, introducing a bill to make it easier to disband unions.

Last year, the National Mediation Board changed the election rules for unions covered by the Railway Labor Act to ensure that absentee votes were not counted as votes against forming an union.

Mica, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has led an unsuccessful-thus-far effort to reverse the change in a funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration.

He said Thursday that he was filing standalone legislation to apply the same standard to union decertification elections.

The Workforce Fairness Institute finds a lot to like in the Mica bill. From a WFI press release:

WFI Applauds Introduction Of Legislation Ensuring Fairness In Airline & Railway Elections

Washington, D.C. (December 2, 2011) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in response to legislation introduced by Congressman John Mica ensuring there is fairness in airline and railway elections:

"Legislation introduced by Congressman Mica impacting airline and railway workers ensures there is fairness in organizing elections,” said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "Since union bosses have instructed their backers at the National Mediation Board to advance an agenda that hurts workers, it is Congress' responsibility to step in and address the matter. Applying the same standard for decertification that has been created for certification in organizing elections in the airline and railway industries is a common sense policy that merits the support of both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House."