American Airlines’ roughly 14,500 customer-service agents voted overwhelmingly in mid-September to unionize with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Communications Workers of America.

The vote — the largest union representation election in the country this year — was a slam dunk, with 86 percent of eligible voters in favor of unionizing.

The election was prompted by the merger of American Airlines and US Airways last year to form the new American Airlines. Roughly one-third of the workers — US Airway’s 5,500 agents — were already represented by the communications workers and stood to lose both their union and their contract in the event of a no vote.

The American Airlines agents had struggled for 19 years to form a union, most recently with a January 2013 election attempt that fell short by just 150 votes. Now they will join their US Airways counterparts in a new bargaining unit at the merged airline.

With three-quarters of the agents working in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona, the communications workers have hailed the vote as the largest labor victory in the South in several decades.

“I’ve been with American Airlines for 18 years and through all of those years I have been praying for this day,” said Texas-based agent Carroll Locklear. “Gone are the days that management can take what they want when they want.”

Associated Press, Sept. 16
CWA website, Sept. 16
Labor Notes, Sept. 15