Last week, the National Mediation Board verified the signatures on our Authorization Cards and notified Norse management that there a sufficient showing of interest verifying the majority of the work group (Norse Flight Attendants) filled out and signed Union Authorization cards. This is the point where US companies use the "election" option and have the NMB conduct a representation election. During this period, companies typically use this "second chance" to scare the employees into voting no for the Union. As we told you during training, things are being done differently here at Norse.
Instead of conducting an election, Norse Management accepted the "certification by card check" option provided by the board which eliminates the need for an election. In their position statement Norse management told the NMB that they are in "full support" of the cabin crew's desire to unionize and they "recognized the importance of employees' interests being properly represented and values the excellent contribution that trade unions make to employer-employee relations." You can see Norse's full position statement here:
Seeing that Norse Management was in full support of our desire to unionize with the AFA, the National Mediation Board issued our Union Certification yesterday. You can read the NMB's certification letter here.
What's next?
Next, we have to vote on our Tentative Agreement that was negotiated back in May 2021. The voting period will be announced shortly. In order to vote for the Tentative Agreement, you must fill out and sign an AFA Membership application.
After the Tentative Agreement is voted in, we will start paying union dues. All AFA members pay $50 in union dues every month. To ensure you are on-time with your dues payments, we will ask everyone to fill out a Dues Authorization Form, which will allow the AFA to payroll deduct your dues so you don't have to send in a check every month.
This is the moment we have been waiting for everyone. We are now officially UNIONIZED Flight Attendants for Norse Atlantic Airways. Let's keep the momentum going by signing your AFA membership applications and Dues check off forms.
Many of you have come to me in the past few months to ask, "If there's anything you need in supporting the Union, let me know. Well, now is the time we need your help in getting our Union up and running. Please email us if you can help us get everything up and running: [email protected]
We are off to a great start and can't wait to see everyone up in the air to celebrate our achievement!
