The National Mediation Board (NMB) this week mailed telephone and Internet voting instructions to nearly 100 Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines Flight Simulator Technicians (Sim Techs), opening a three-week voting period in the first IAM election since Delta acquired Northwest.
     “Voter participation is critical in this election,” said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. “NMB rules count any eligible voter who chooses not to participate in the election – for whatever reason – to have voted against union representation.”
     Results of the election will be announced following the conclusion of voting at 2:00 pm EST on February 25, 2010.
     Once Sim Tech voters receive their Personal Identification Number (PIN) and Voter Identification Number (VIN) from the NMB, they can vote by calling 1-877-NMB-VOTE, or visiting www.nmb.gov and clicking the red link that says “Click Here to Vote in a Representation Election.”
     Any eligible Sim Tech voter who has not received a PIN/VIN from the NMB by February 8, 2010, should contact, in writing, the NMB Office of Legal Affairs and request a duplicate PIN/VIN and reference NMB Case No. R-7230. Request forms for a duplicate PIN/VIN are available from IAM Representatives.
     The correct address to submit the request is:

National Mediation Board Office of Legal Affairs
1301 K St., NW, Suite 250 East, Washington, DC 20005

     Elections for other employee groups at the combined airline are not yet scheduled. More information about the Sim Tech election is available at www.iam143.org.

UCUBED
The IAM will launch Ur Union of Unemployed – or UCubed for short – an online community that aims to unify the unemployed in a unique and useful way.

Over 31 million Americans have lost work and wages in this Grave Recession. More than 35,000 members of our own union and many of our friends, relatives and neighbors are facing the toughest months in more than a generation. Their job prospects will depend, in large measure, on what happens in Washington.

Ur Union of Unemployed will organize the unemployed into community activist groups known as cubes. Together, they will turn up the heat on politicians from the State House to the White House to act swiftly to address the current jobs crisis, along with important issues like unemployment benefit extensions, food stamps, COBRA benefits and JOBS NOW!, the IAM effort to create new national industrial policy. Each cube will be organized by zip code. Six activists combine to make a cube. Nine cubes create a neighborhood. Three neighborhoods create a power block. Multiply that again and again, and you’ve got a powerful community that can effect real change – one that politicians can’t ignore.

“Ur Union of Unemployed will add a real sense of urgency to efforts to get all Americans back to work,” says IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “Everywhere we turn we see the personal devastation this recession has caused. But we know there’s strength in numbers. And 31 million unemployed Americans is a pretty big number. Help us. Help yourself. Help your country. Together, we can work to end this Grave Recession.”

On January 15, 2010, visit UCubed at www.unionofunemployed.com and watch as the nation’s unemployed take back control. To learn more about UCubed on GoIAM.org click here.