NMB overreach: President's desk edition

Not really the president's desk

It's been a while since I've done a National Mediation Board overreach post, but there is a lot of NMB news today. For the uninitiated, this agency has oversight of labor issues in the rail and airline industries.

From The Hill:

The Senate on Monday approved a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration through 2015, ending a years-long battle on Capitol Hill.

The House previously approved the measure, which will now go to President Obama's desk. The president supports the legislation.

The 75-20 Senate vote brings an end to a series of short-term extensions that for years were used to fund the FAA.

Senators approved the legislation after a debate largely devoid of the acrimony that has marked the four years since the last FAA authorization bill expired in 2007.

The bill now heads to the president's desk.

The Workforce Fairness Institute has a statement about his news:

"The legislation passed by lawmakers goes a long way toward protecting airline and railroad workers on the issue of unionization," said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "Despite opposition from some labor bosses, the legislation appropriately requires the support of 50 percent of workers to conduct a union election, ensures that run-off elections are between the top two ballot recipients including the no-union vote, compels the National Mediation Board (NMB) to conduct public hearings in advance of significant rulemaking and requires the Government Accountability Office to audit the NMB every two years. This bipartisan legislation better protects workplace democracy in this critical transportation sector of our economy and allows for badly-needed modernization, all of which will serve Americans well."

Technorati tags: politics Democrats organized labor unions Republican news organized labor jobs economy law legal business aviation transportation trains nmb