United Airlines loses challenge to union drive

A vote on unionisation by 2,700 United Airlines in-flight catering workers can move forward over the company’s objections, the general counsel of the National Mediation Board ruled. In January, the hospitality union Unite Here filed a petition, with support from three-quarters of United’s kitchen workforce, seeking a vote. United Airlines responded with a complaint alleging fraud and misrepresentation by the union before the petition was filed, contending that Unite Here organisers had shown up at workers’ homes claiming to be representatives of the airline conducting a poll. NMB general counsel Mary Johnson wrote that after interviewing employees, the agency’s investigators had determined that “there is no evidence that employees did not understand that Unite Here was a union and was not a representative of United." <br/>