How the IAM’s legal staff helped win the election at United

The IAM prevailed in the recent election among United’s Public Contact Employees because it had the strong support of its Members and others who understood the value of a great union.

It also helped that the IAM has an outstanding legal department.

Deputy General Counsel Carla Siegel and Associate General Counsel David Neigus led a team that overturned an initial ruling by the National Mediation Board (NMB) against the IAM. They made history in the process.

Siegel and Neigus were key players in a struggle to reinstate eligibility to 1,000 employees who were being blocked from participating in the vote for union representation.

“Throughout 2011, the IAM filed a number of applications to represent a variety of crafts or classes at the merged carrier including the Fleet employees and the Passenger Service or PCE employees.” Neigus recalled.

“Under the NMB process, the carrier provides the initial list of eligible voters,” Siegel said.

“In the case of the PCE election, the company didn’t include almost 1,000 employees because, the company claimed, they were actually Fleet Service employees.”

“But the company didn’t include those 1,000 employees on the list of eligible voters for the Fleet election that took place just a few months earlier either.” Neigus added.

In their petition to the NMB, the IAM’s legal representatives argued that the employees should be on the list because the NMB had historically included them in the PCE craft or class, they had been eligible to vote in the 1998 election for Passenger Service, and they had a strong work related community of interest with the remainder of the Passenger Service craft or class. Plus, the company had not included these people on the Fleet Service list of eligible voters.

“The employees at United viewed the company as denying them the right to vote for union representation,” Neigus said.

The NMB initially ruled against the union and the employees. The IAM immediately filed for an appeal, which succeeded when the NMB determined that “there is no evidence that material changes have occurred to the historical patterns of representation due to the merger.”

“I’ve been involved in many court battles and successes on behalf of the IAM, but this case is unique because of the facts,” Siegel said.

“It’s rare for the National Mediation Board to overturn a decision, so this victory stands out for that reason as well,” Neigus said.