Robert Alexander | Stock Photos | Getty Images A major airline union said Friday it has enough support among JetBlue Airways’ roughly 3,000 fleet workers to call for a unionization vote, in the latest move to organize workers. The International Union of Mechanical and Aerospace Workers said it will file a petition for a union vote with the National Mediation Board. The task force includes baggage handlers and other ground operations employees. A vote could also be held as JetBlue tries to acquire budget carrier Spirit Airlines, where more than 80 percent of workers are represented by unions, compared with 46 percent at JetBlue, according to annual company filings. “The IAM has sufficient interest among JetBlue Fleet Service employees to hold union representation elections,” the union said in a statement. JetBlue did not immediately comment on the IAM’s statement. Most major airline workers are already heavily represented by unions, although some carriers like JetBlue are less so than some competitors. Delta Air Lines is the largest US airline whose workers are mostly non-unionized, although the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA in 2019 launched a unionization of the Atlanta-based carrier’s flight attendants. Flight attendants have rejected unionization in the past.
