Flexjet Pilots Oust Teamsters In Huge Defeat For American Unions - BloombergQuint
Pilots at Flexjet LLC voted to end representation by the Teamsters union, a significant blow to organized labor in one of its few remaining strongholds and a coup for the jet-leasing company, which steered a heated campaign to sway workers.
Pilots voted by a margin of 318 to 220 to decertify the Teamsters in electronic voting over the past month, according to results verified by a representative of the National Mediation Board Wednesday. The pilots had voted narrowly to join the union in 2016, but since then had been unable to secure a contract deal with the Cleveland-based company. The union blamed a cynical campaign and delay strategy by deeply anti-union Flexjet officials for the reversal in employee sentiment.
Management hailed the vote, which it said “will provide Flexjet with a huge competitive advantage in the fractional jet ownership market.” In recent months, the company has sent workers anti-union messages including one referencing a “long list of Teamsters companies that are no longer in business,” and launched a “Vote For Flexjet” website telling employees that if they dumped the Teamsters, “the company will be able to work directly with the pilots and make our airline great again.”
Pilots at Flexjet LLC voted to end representation by the Teamsters union, a significant blow to organized labor in one of its few remaining strongholds and a coup for the jet-leasing company, which steered a heated campaign to sway workers.
Pilots voted by a margin of 318 to 220 to decertify the Teamsters in electronic voting over the past month, according to results verified by a representative of the National Mediation Board Wednesday. The pilots had voted narrowly to join the union in 2016, but since then had been unable to secure a contract deal with the Cleveland-based company. The union blamed a cynical campaign and delay strategy by deeply anti-union Flexjet officials for the reversal in employee sentiment.
Management hailed the vote, which it said “will provide Flexjet with a huge competitive advantage in the fractional jet ownership market.” In recent months, the company has sent workers anti-union messages including one referencing a “long list of Teamsters companies that are no longer in business,” and launched a “Vote For Flexjet” website telling employees that if they dumped the Teamsters, “the company will be able to work directly with the pilots and make our airline great again.”
