Free Brainwash For 2,700 United Airline’s Employees

The huge commissaries United Airlines uses to prepare in-flight food recently added a perk for its 2,700 employees – television screens. Instead of news or talks shows the TVs broadcast nonstop messages explaining why workers shouldn’t unionize, among them warnings about the cost of union dues, the potential for loss of benefits if they unionize and the difficulty of getting rid of a union once it’s been voted in. According to an employee at the Newark airport facility, the anti-union messages are broadcast in the cafeteria, the loading dock, and the food production area. “They’re trying to wash people’s brains,” she says. The union has filed a complaint with the National Mediation Board, alleging that United officials conveyed threats, promises, and misinformation through postings and electronic messages in the workplace. Pro-union kitchen workers said they are organizing to address issues such as the company’s overly restrictive attendance policy, which they claim causes them to report to work when they’re sick. On May 23, when confronted by employees at a shareholder meeting, CEO Oscar Munoz said United’s job was to educate employees about their benefits and how, under collective bargaining, those could be subject to negotiation.