IT'S TIME!
Our rights
It is our legal right to unionize.
Federal law protects every SkyWest Flight Attendant who signs a card, wears the pin, or talks about our AFA campaign. Here is what the law says, where it applies, and what to do if anyone gets in the way.
The short version
Sign. Wear. Talk.
Three rights, all written into the Railway Labor Act, the law that covers airline employees.
Try it
Where can I sign a card or talk about our union drive?
Tap a place on the board.
Green means yes. Red means not there, not then. Tap any card for the reason.
The test is the same everywhere: are you engaged in work duties right now? If not, you can talk. Campaign conversations never interfere with duties, and they stay out of work areas.
The pin
Am I allowed to wear my AFA pin?
Absolutely.
Employees may wear a discreet union insignia while on duty. That is settled law, and AFA Legal has put it to SkyWest in writing. Union activists are also assured the right to advocate for the union without fear of retaliation of any kind.
SkyWest agreed, in writing, one week later. Both letters are below.
"SkyWest flight attendants are allowed to wear an AFA pin if it otherwise conforms to our uniform standards."
Todd Emerson, VP Legal, SkyWest · Feb 22, 2023If someone gets in the way
Comply. Note. Report.
If any member of management interferes with your right to sign a card, wear your pin, or discuss our union, do not take it on in the moment. Let the lawyers.
"That's private, and it will be expressed by secret ballot."
Then note the details and send them through the incident report form. Management asking is itself something the law says they may not do.AFA organizers, staff representatives and attorneys enforce your legal rights every step of the way. If necessary, AFA files charges with the National Mediation Board, which has the power, backed by federal courts, to order an employer to stop interfering and to reverse any action taken against workers for their union activity. AFA Legal is already holding SkyWest management accountable in court for past interference. Every report adds to that record.
File an AFA Legal incident report →What the law says
Section 2, Fourth
The Railway Labor Act says we have the right to join, organize, or assist in organizing a union. In practice, that means we have the legal right to:
Swipe, or use the arrows below the cards.
The other side of the law
What management may not do
When employees organize under the Railway Labor Act, the employer is prevented from all of the following. Open each group.
Watching and questioningYour support is your business.+
- ✕Surveillance of organizing activities
- ✕Asking about confidential union matters, such as whether or not you signed a card
- ✕Asking whether you support the union
- ✕Knowing how you voted
Threats and disciplineRetaliation is against the law.+
- ✕Discharging, laying off, disciplining, harassing, reassigning or threatening employees because of their support for a union
- ✕Threatening to sue in an effort to suppress support
- ✕Taking away jobs, pay or any benefits or privileges that employees already had in order to discourage union activity
Promises and favoritismNo deals for a NO vote.+
- ✕Promising promotions, raises, or other benefits in exchange for voting against the union
- ✕Favoring employees who oppose a union with special promotions, job assignments, bonuses, or unequal enforcement of company policies
- ✕Endorsing one union over another
Blocking cards, leaflets and conversationNon-work time, non-work areas.+
- ✕Barring employees from soliciting cards or membership during non-work time and in non-work areas, as long as the Company does not have a specific and non-discriminatory policy banning all solicitation (a non-work area generally includes break rooms, crew lounges, and anywhere work is not performed)
- ✕Preventing an employee from handing out leaflets on their own time in non-work areas
- ✕Preventing an employee from discussing the prospect of a union while at work, as long as it does not interfere with work duties (representation cards are different: hand those out only during non-work time in non-work areas)
- ✕Preventing an employee from voting
45 U.S.C. § 152 (Third), (Fourth), (Tenth) · 29 C.F.R. § 1205.2
Quick check
Know your rights?
Four questions. Pick an answer and you'll see right away why it's right or wrong. Nothing leaves your screen.
1. A supervisor asks whether you signed a card. You:
2. You are in the crew lounge rest area between trips. A coworker asks about AFA.
3. A manager tells you to take off your AFA pin. You:
4. Management promises a better schedule if the vote goes NO. That is:
Fly with it
Print and carry
Two documents worth keeping in your tote. Everything in them is already on this page.
Download the pin letters PDF ↓
Our voice, our choice. Protected by federal law.
Next step
Use your rights.
The law protects the conversation. We still have to have it.