Southwest flight attendants to rerun contract vote

The union representing Southwest Airlines Co.’s flight attendants called for a new vote on a contract offer it rejected last week after its voting service provider told them there had been a data leak, a charge the vendor denies. In a Facebook video, Lyn Montgomery, president of Transport Workers Union Local 556, told members that TrueBallot told them “their system was unsecured, leaving it open to vulnerabilities.” This, she said, left the board “no choice but to rerun the election with a trusted vendor.” TrueBallot President John Seibel said the union’s claims are “patently untrue.” In a phone interview, he said that a Dec. 8 livestream of voting results inadvertently showed a page that was supposed to be secure. Some people copied the URL and used it to get to a list of member names, emails and whether they voted — but not how they voted. The voting had already closed, he said, and nothing could affect the outcome. ‘It’s not good” Seibel said of the list being exposed. “But the integrity of the election was not affected.” Union officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The board said in the video that the new vote was not intended to overturn the original results announced last week, when the contract was voted down 11,761 to 6,635. It would have provided an immediate 20% pay increase, 3% annual boosts through 2028 and retroactive wages. The union did not immediately set a date for a new vote. It said it would launch an investigation and has scheduled a meeting with company officials Friday. <br/>