JetBlue flight attendants seek to form union during D.C. visit

Nearly 5,000 JetBlue flight attendants are traveling to DC Wednesday to file paperwork to form a union. The JetBlue attendants are coordinating with Transport Workers Union to file pro-union authorization cards with the National Mediation Board. The goal is to hold a union election for a new flight attendants local within TWU, the union said. The move followed a dedicated organizing drive from TWU, which is now headed by former Local 100 President John Samuelsen, who rose to prominence as the head of the union representing the city’s subway and bus workers. Out of the 4,800 JetBlue flight attendants going to D.C., the largest contingent comes from JFK Airport in Queens. Some 2,200 workers based at JFK are taking part in the unionizing effort, TWU said. “This is the biggest and most important organizing drive in the airline industry in decades,” Samuelsen said. JetBlue did not welcome TWU’s efforts to unionize its flight attendants. In September, management began distributing flyers and emailing staffers with its own messaging: Inviting in a “third-party” union was a bad idea.<br/>