One of the more militant US airline unions is trying to break the trend established by President Bush, who has blocked or threatened to block every major airline strike since he took office.
Bush has invoked the rarely used presidential emergency board to put off actions against Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, and recently moved to prevent an International Association of Machinists (IAM) strike against United Airlines. Since Bush took office last year federal mediators have recommended three emergency boards. In the past 35 years, a board was established only once, although their use in rail has been common. Éclat Consulting's William Swelbar says: "The practice was that you never, never do an emergency board in an airline dispute. Even Bush's father declined to do one at Eastern."
The IAM, which represents 15,000 United mechanics, had been set to strike the weekend before Christmas. Bush acted after the National Mediation Board (NMB), which oversees labour relations in the airline and railroad industries, recommended he intervene and create a board to help break the two-year stalemate.
In turn, the IAM asked a federal judge to set aside Bush's executive order establishing the board in the United case. The lawsuit claims the board did not meet a legal threshold when it recommended the panel to Bush. The union claims the overriding reason was to avoid a strike during the holiday. IAM president Tom Buffenbarger said the union and United "could have concluded their negotiations but for the White House's interference." He added, "in this instance the NMB behaved more like a puppet on a string than a neutral federal agency."
Although a federal judge rejected the union motion, it has signaled the first attempt by a union to take on the White House directly and to question the new use of emergency boards.
Source: Airline Business
