Linda Puchala is an American government official who has served as a member of the

National Mediation Board The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries. History The board was established by the 1934 amendments to ...

(NMB) since 2009. Puchala is the former president of the

Association of Flight Attendants The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (commonly known as AFA) is a union representing flight attendants in the United States. As of January 2018, AFA represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. Since 2004, AFA has been part of the Comm ...

Career

Puchala started as a flight attendant in 1969 with

North Central Airlines North Central Airlines was a regional airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was bor ...

; in a 1985 article she noted that was a time when women had to resign when they married or reached age 32. North Central Airlines merged with

Republic Airlines Republic Airlines was an American airline formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling in unincorporate ...

and Puchala served as the master executive council chairperson. In 1979 she was elected as president of the

and, once she convinced her family to move to Washington, DC, she served in that role until 1986. Puchala viewed herself as a candidate for the position because of her ability to serve as a mediator. As noted in the 1982 book ''From sky girl to flight attendant: women and the making of a union'', she faced multiple challenges including airline deregulation and rising costs. In 1984 the Association of Flight Attendants union was linked within the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

, making Puchala the first female president of a chartered federation union. She was active in addressing issues with discrimination against women in aviation and in 1985 she spoke with the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' about how women are turning to unions in the aviation industry because of inequitable treatment. She also worked to increase the association's ability to effectively generate publications that were shared with members. In 1985, when Puchala was denied a place on the executive committee of the Air Line Pilots Association, labor activists were surprised and noted that despite advances, women were still not treated equally in the workplace. Puchala served on President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's transition team and he nominated her for the National Mediation Board in 2009. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on May 21, 2009. Her past with unions was noted as a positive given the pending contract negotiations between airlines and their unions, and the potential for conflict during the negotiations. She help negotiate contracts between labor unions and multiple companies including UPS, US Airways, and United Airlines. Her appointment to the National Mediation Board was viewed by some as a favor to unions given the board's changes to the National Rail Act in May of 2010 which made it easier for unions to recruit new members. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

nominated her for an additional term on the National Mediation Board, and she was confirmed to a second term in August 2013. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for her third term on November 2, 2017. In 2022, she was nominated by Joe Biden to serve as a member of the National Mediation Board.

References

External links

Biography at the National Mediation Board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puchala, Linda Living people Trade unionists from Michigan Michigan Democrats Cleary University alumni Obama administration personnel Trump administration personnel Biden administration personnel Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)