Maintenance workers tend to a JetBlue Airbus A320 in a JFK hangar in March. (Photo by Charly ... [+]
As a top transportation union seeks to organize JetBlue mechanics and dispatchers, it has won backing from 160 members of Congress, who have charged the carrier with interfering in the effort.
“It has come to our attention that there have been instances of anti-organizing interference at JetBlue from management,” the Congressional Labor Caucus said Wednesday, in a letter to JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty. “As required by law, unionization efforts must be permitted to occur free from interference.”
The letter, which requests that JetBlue adopt a neutrality agreement pertaining to labor organizing, was delivered by email Wednesday morning. Notably, although the group is overwhelmingly Democratic, twelve of the signatories are Republicans.
JetBlue said Wednesday it has not interfered in unionization efforts. Its flight attendants and pilots are represented by unions.
The Transport Workers Union, which represents JetBlue’s approximately 7,000 flight attendants, is seeking to organize JetBlue’s approximately 1,000 mechanics and 100 dispatchers. Flight attendants voted to join the union in 2018.
“We’ve had a multi-year bruising exposure to JetBlue on the organizing front,” said TWU President John Samuelsen. “Going back now at least eight years, they pulled out all the stops and invested millions in trying to break the flight crew organizing drive.”
“They use really intensive anti-trade-union tactics,” Samuelsen said. Among the tactics, he said, are paying millions of dollars for an anti-union law firm, intimidation of rank-and-file union organizers and efforts “to brainwash the workforce.”
He said several pro-union workers have been fired, then rehired. while others face being fired. The carrier “puts forth a myth that this is a non-trade-union culture” in both verbal and written communications to workers, he said.
Samuelsen said that JetBlue “killed the fleet service organizing drive” by the International Association of Machinists to organize fleet service workers. In a February 2023 election, workers voted 65% against representation. Of 2,624 workers who were eligible to vote, 1,410 voted with 920 opposed to the union.
In an email, JetBlue said Wednesday, “Our track record shows that we fully comply with the law and respect our crewmembers’ right to decide without interference. We welcome the opportunity to discuss with Congressional representatives the inaccurate claims put forward in the letter by TWU.
“Under federal law, both unions and companies are allowed to provide information to employees so they can make an informed decision about unionization,” JetBlue said. “After hearing from union organizers, our crewmembers often ask us to share our perspectives so that they can consider multiple points of view.
“We work very hard to make JetBlue a great place to work, and in many cases, our crewmembers have preferred the direct relationship over unionization,” the carrier said.
The Congressional Labor Caucus is co-chaired by U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan,D-Wi; Donald Norcross, D-NJ;, Debbie Dingell,D-Mi and Steven Horsford, D-Nev. Formed in 2022, it seeks to advance the priorities of workers and the labor movement.
In February, the caucus wrote a letter urging Delta to adopt a neutrality agreement as three unions seek to organize flight attendants, mechanics and fleet service workers. That letter had one Republican signer, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, while the JetBlue letter has twelve including six from New York, a reflection of TWU strength in New York.
“Every downstate Republican is on there,” Samuelsen said. He commended them, especially U.S. Rep Andrew Garbarino. “He is a pro-worker moderate, and he was a leader in advancing this letter,” Samuelsen said.
On Wednesday, the JetBlue chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association marked the tenth anniversary of their successful organizing campaign that concluded in an April 2014 election. Today ALPA represents about 5,000 JetBlue pilots.
“The organizing campaign that the pilots developed exposed the fundamental flaws in the company’s purported ‘direct relationship’ with its employees and demonstrated the compelling benefits of collective bargaining and legal representation,” ALPA said in a press release.
“Ten years ago, JetBlue pilots recognized that our best shot at leveling up our careers and securing our financial future was through banding together and bargaining collectively,” said Capt. Justin Houck, chair of the JetBlue ALPA chapter..
“Now as we gear up for negotiations with the company for our next contract, it is that same unity that’s going to secure an agreement the JetBlue pilots have earned,” Houck said. Negotiations are scheduled to begin next week.
