Why Vote NO to TWU?
Look at the facts & why they matter
FACT:
Governor Cuomo, Senator Schumer, and several other political figures tweeted their support of TWU’s attempt to unionize JetBlue. Coincidentally, TWU has also made at least $369,800 in donations to these same politicians between 1997 and 2018. TWU states that the donations did not come from member dues, but from their Political Action Committee which is funded by donations. For the record, The PAC, however, is a representative of TWU members and their initiatives.
WHY IT MATTERS:
We must consider the influence money has in political support. We must ask ourselves: how can any of these politicians show their support for TWU when they have not been involved with JetBlue or have any interest in the union vote outcome since it won’t affect their political status. They have not taken the time to understand how our direct relationship works. If these politicians are supposed to represent all of their constituents, then why have they NOT taken the time to hear all sides of this equation before pledging their support for one side?
Some have argued that JetBlue makes political donations as well but there is a BIG difference. JetBlue is not using their political affiliations to sway this election. Regardless of who JetBlue has donated to, they’re not using tweets to sway the vote, unlike the TWU.
VIEW THE DATA, GET THE FACTS:
The Board of Elections provides disclosure reports listing each candidates donation sources. You can find all the donations made by TWU in these documents.
READ THE ARTICLE, GET THE FACTS:
Transport Workers Union Boss John Samuelsen Doesn’t Give a Shite What You Think of Him
“The labor leader is described as both a ‘true living socialist’ and Governor Cuomo’s ‘lapdog’.”
READ THE ARTICLE, GET THE FACTS:
MTA union emerges as key Cuomo ally in funding fight
“…the union’s political action committee donated more than $60,000 to the governor’s 2018 campaign committee, according to public records.”
READ THE ARTICLE, GET THE FACTS:
Gov. Cuomo and John Samuelsen make a pact, TWU local 100 members are in serious trouble.
“This is a classic cade of ‘sleeping with the enemy’.”
FACT:
In 1975, just 29 of the 54 Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants voted to elect TWU as their representative.
WHY IT MATTERS:
It is important to understand that elections are decided by a majority of ONLY those who vote. In Southwest Airline’s case, it came down to 29 votes that decided the future for Southwest’s current 15,000 Flight Attendants.
Fast forward to 2015, Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants collected 7,500+ signatures in a campaign to recall members of the Executive Board and collected over $50,000 in funds to support their campaign. This case is still being fought in court today.
FACT:
TWU boasts that they have nearly 140,000 members. The only two Flight Attendant workgroups they currently represent are Allegiant & Southwest, just 12% of their total membership.
WHY IT MATTERS:
TWU’s expertise is NOT Flight Attendant representation. The only two initial contracts they have ever negotiated for Flight Attendant workgroups were for Southwest in 1975, and Allegiant in 2017, which took 7 years of negotiation. Their track record speaks for itself.
FACT:
In July 2015, Allegiant flight attendants seeking to decertify TWU filed an application for an election. After months of legal challenges by the TWU seeking to throw out some of the authorization cards, the National Mediation Board (NMB) determined in January 2016 that at least 50 percent of the workgroup had submitted cards in support of the election. In the election of 731 eligible voters, only 570 voted – 273 voted for “no” representation, 13 votes short of the needed majority; 289 voted for the TWU and 8 voted for other purported representatives. Under NMB rules, all “yes” votes are counted in favor of representation. Their effort failed.
WHY IT MATTERS:
It is no surprise that Allegiant attempted to decertify TWU after so many years of negotiating their first contract with no support until “the leadership of the union changed and we [TWU] took the interests of the Allegiant Flight Attendants seriously.”
It is important to understand that it is virtually impossible to decertify a union once it is elected.
FACT:
When asked why it took 7 years for TWU to get a contract with Allegiant, TWU President John Samuelsen stated “I’ll say the plain and truthful answer to that is that a good and proper strategic campaign was never launched against Allegiant until recently. It’s when the leadership of the union changed and we took the interests of the Allegiant Flight Attendants seriously.”
WHY IT MATTERS:
TWU, as an organization, stood by for 6 years without taking Allegiant Flight Attendants seriously or giving them the support they needed. It took new leadership to step in at International to make it happen. It is evident that the TWU’s “success” is heavily reliant on individual leadership, who come and go. If we elect the TWU, there is virutally no turning back. Decertification of a union requires the same exact process applicable to union organization campaigns, except Crewmembers would be responsible for dozens of organizers, lawyers & the financial investment to campaign against the union. No workgroup of our size has ever been successful. Note that out of the two flight attendant workgroups TWU represents, one has attempted decertification & the other is campaigning for the recall of the majority of their executive board members.
