Low-cost airline JetBlue has been called out for alleged interference in employees’ organizing efforts, with at least two local members of Congress joining a call from the Congressional Labor Caucus to cut it out.
Orlando’s U.S. House Rep. Maxwell Frost joined a bipartisan group of 160 members of Congress in penning a letter to JetBlue Wednesday, asking the company to cease “anti-union” tactics alleged by the country’s largest airline workers’ union, and to allow their employees to have a “free and fair choice” to join a union.
“As is required by law, unionization efforts must be permitted to occur free from interference, whether from supervisors or organizations at-large,” reads a letter led by members of the Congressional Labor Caucus, sent to JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty, on Wednesday.
“It has come to our attention that there have been instances of anti-organizing interference at JetBlue from management,” the letter adds.
Over the last year, two groups of aviation mechanics and air dispatchers forJetBlue have been organizing with the Transport Workers Union, a labor union that represents over 155,000 workers in the railway, airline, transit, university, and service sectors, including Jet Blue flight attendants.
According to the union, the workers’ organizing campaigns have faced consistent opposition from JetBlue management, despite provisions of the Railway Labor Act that strictly prohibit employers from interfering with workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain.
In light of that, a sizable group of Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress have urged JetBlue to adopt what’s known as a union neutrality agreement.
This would essentially establish a commitment from JetBlue not to interfere with, or attempt to sway employees on matters related to their lawfully protected right to organize.
“Your commitment to neutrality would ensure that management does not pressure workers into voting against unionization or delaying the election process, and it would signal to workers that supporting an organizing drive would not negatively impact their employment,” the letter from the Congressional members reads.
Notably, Maxwell Frost is the only Central Florida-area member of Congress who officially signed onto the letter.
Orlando Weekly reached out to Rep. Darren Soto — also an ally to organized labor — who confirmed in a statement that he similarly supports the union’s efforts “to give JetBlue workers the opportunity to unionize free from intimidation and harassment.”
However, instead of joining his colleagues, Soto decided to write his own, separate letter to JetBlue yesterday. In this letter, Soto asked the company to please follow the law, while adding that he “appreciate[s] JetBlue’s continued commitment to and investment in Orlando.”
According to Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen, who’s based out of New York, the letter featuring signatures from 160 members of Congress (not including Soto) is a direct response to what Samuelsen describes as a “draconian crackdown” on JetBlue employees’ union drive.
“They have responded to every single organizing drive with the most anti-trade union, anti-worker aggression of any employer in the country,” Samuelsen told Orlando Weekly, “especially of any employer in the airline industry.”
And that’s saying something. Delta Airlines is notorious in the labor movement for its yearslong effort to remain the only major U.S. airline without a unionized workforce of flight attendants.
“They’re worse than Delta,” Samuelsen said.
Photos posted online Wednesday by the TWU show anti-union flyers and other materials ostensibly posted in employee break rooms, airport lounges, and other spots that workers frequent, including areas at Orlando International Airport (MCO), one of the busiest air hubs in the country.
“There’s a reason union promises may sound too good to be true — they often are,” one white-and-blue flyer, apparently posted somewhere at MCO, reads. “A union can promise whatever it wants, but can’t guarantee anything,” the flyer adds (which is ironic, since — unlike a union contract — neither can the boss!)
In some ways, the company’s opposition is unsurprising, since they’ve opposed union drives before. The TWU, for instance, already represents JetBlue flight instructors and JetBlue flight attendants — who voted to unionize with TWU in 2018, despite opposition from the company then, too.
Back in 2019, The Guardian reported on anti-union messaging that JetBlue had continued to pass along to a separate group of airport operations agents and others who were similarly organizing with the union.
Over email, for instance, JetBlue CEO Geraghty reportedly urged employees in 2019 to decline to sign a union card, arguing the union would never be able to provide them with the same “accomplishment” that JetBlue has.
According to an email reviewed by The Guardian, this included things like holiday parties, a new app launch, and bag scanners.
“Don’t be fooled — the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence and you don’t have to look over that fence to see what unions have done (or failed to do) at other airlines,” Geraghty reportedly wrote.
When reached for comment Thursday, a spokesperson for JetBlue called TWU’s allegations of anti-union behavior from company management “inaccurate.”
“After hearing from union organizers, our crewmembers often ask us to share our perspectives so that they can consider multiple points of view and we have a responsibility to participate in the discussion,” an unnamed spokesperson shared over email. “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.”
JetBlue also denies any unlawful behavior. “Our track record shows that we fully comply with the law and respect our crewmembers’ right to decide without interference,” the company spokesperson added.
Samuelsen, however, said that JetBlue employees have told union staffers they’re being intimidated on the job. “JetBlue is in the process of trying to intimidate the living daylights out of every single worker not to sign a card,” he shared.
“They have responded to every single organizing drive with the most anti-trade union, anti-worker aggression of any employer in the country”
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Job termination, for instance, has been a big concern. According to Samuelsen, the issue of job security is what sparked “renewed interest” in organizing among the airline’s nonunion workforce. This reared its head especially when JetBlue announced plans to acquire Spirit Airlines back in 2022. Such a merger, Samuelsen said, “would destabilize everything.”
The controversial merger was called off last month, weeks after a federal judge blocked the deal, but Samuelsen says the desire for better job protections and job security that a union can lock down in a contract is unchanged.
“Workers have stepped up and embraced the moment,” he said. At this point, their campaign — spread across different air hubs throughout the country — is largely being driven by rank-and-file committees of employees at these different sites and full-time staff union organizers who help spread the word on-the-ground.
Meanwhile, members of the Transport Workers Union at Southwest Airlines this week just ratified a new contract covering more than 21,000 of Southwest’s flight attendants, after a majority rejected a previous deal reached in December that members felt wasn’t up to par.
According to the union, the deal delivers a 22.3 percent raise for Southwest flight attendants, effective May 1, as well as paid maternal and parental leave, additional pay for work done on the ground (instead of solely on the plane), and pay protections for flight attendants who are injured on the job.
This post has been updated to clarify that the congressional letter was signed by 160 members of Congress. An earlier version stated 155.
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