Flight Attendants at United Continental Pick AFA Over IAM as Post-Merger Union

Flight attendants at United Continental Holdings Inc. have chosen the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America over the International Association of Machinists to represent them in collective bargaining, the two unions said June 29.

In the five-week-long election conducted by the National Mediation Board, AFA received 11,942 votes, while IAM received 9,745 votes. Under the board’s voting procedures, the union that wins a majority of the votes cast for representation will be certified as the bargaining agent.

AFA held the upper hand in the contest, representing approximately 15,000 flight attendants at pre-merger United Airlines, while IAM represented about 9,600 ...