Seattle Airport Strike Injunction Lifted

March 11, 2015
Employees of ASIG, responsible for fueling 75 percent of the planes at Sea-Tac, had wanted a strike in 2012 to protest the suspension of fellow fueler Alex Popescu.

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - It was improper to block the strike by nonunionized Seattle-Tacoma International Airport workers, the en banc 9th Circuit ruled Tuesday.
Employees of Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG), the contractor responsible for fueling 75 percent of the planes at Sea-Tac, had wanted a strike in 2012 to protest the suspension of fellow fueler Alex Popescu.
While the workers attribute Popescu's suspension to his history of speaking out about workplace safety, ASIG claims to have suspended Popescu based on reports of inappropriate workplace conduct.
Labor advocates at Working Washington helped the employees distributed strike ballots two weeks after Popescu's suspension, but ASIG blocked the action with an injunction under the Railway Labor Act (RLA).
A divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit later affirmed the injunction, but the federal appeals court vacated that opinion in favor of an en banc rehearing last year.
In a 7-5 opinion Tuesday, the court sided with fuelers and Working Washington.

More details here.