It's notoriously hard to organize unions in the South, but the Communications Workers of America got
a big win in that department on Tuesday. More than 14,000 customer service agents at the newly merged American Airlines and US Airways will be represented by the CWA or the Teamsters after a vote in which:
About 86 percent of those voting elected to join, with 9,640 agents in favor and 1,547 against. The vote was conducted over four weeks, electronically or by telephone.
The result was particularly important for the nearly 9,000 service agents from the former American Airlines, where unionization efforts had been going on for 19 years. The effort was renewed after the merger, with organizers citing federal rules that permit such a vote after a fundamental change in company structure. [...]
Three-quarters of the agents for the combined airlines work in Texas, North Carolina, Florida or Arizona, the Communications Workers of America said.
US Airways customer service agents were unionized; American Airlines agents were not, and had actually very narrowly voted down a union just two years ago. But despite their greater numbers, the vote was obviously strongly in favor this time. Unions have had two other major airline industry victories in recent months, with Virgin America flight attendants and JetBlue pilots voting to join unions.