Feb. 4 , 2011

  Collective Bargaining Rights Finally a Reality at TSA

In a meeting today with American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage, Transportation Security Administration Administrator John Pistole said he will grant partial collective bargaining rights to Transportation Security Officers.

The administrator said he decided to grant bargaining rights because employee morale and employee engagement are directly related to TSA’s mission. Previous employee surveys consistently rank TSA at the bottom, and TSOs have expressed significant interest in having a union election. If TSOs vote for union representation this spring, Pistole said he would allow national-level bargaining on non-security issues, including seniority, bids, transfers, and awards.

President Gage said this is a step forward that will get AFGE to the table to negotiate better workplace rules and protections for the workers.

“Today marks the establishment of a fundamental human right for 40,000 patriotic federal employees who have been disenfranchised since the inception of the agency,” President Gage said. “We have come a long way since AFGE first began representing TSOs in 2001. For nine years, TSOs have had to deal with issues of dangerous workplaces, discrimination, selective hiring practices, nepotism, management intimidation, and reports of lax oversight at the agency with only AFGE to stand between them and an arbitrary and capricious management.” 

President Gage added that collective bargaining rights are a necessity if TSA is going to evolve into a high performance workplace and that AFGE intends to address the TSOs’ workplace concerns in a constructive manner with TSA, so the employees can focus on their jobs. AFGE is ready to formally represent TSOs and we will win the election.

TSOs are thankful and hopeful that this will be the beginning of better days at TSA.

“I look forward with renewed hope that morale will improve,” said AFGE Local 1120 President Cynthia Jenson, Lead TSO at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Lead TSO at St. Louis Airport Tony D’Angelo agreed. “AFGE has been in the forefront pushing for collective bargaining rights for TSOs from the start and never wavered. As an LTSO, I appreciate all their efforts to ensure all TSOs have the right to collective bargaining, along with a more positive working environment.”

President Gage thanks the TSOs for their dedication to their jobs and their union. Their mission is vital, and America needs TSOs fully focused on the mission and not distracted by the many unresolved morale damaging problems which exist today.

What You Can Do Next Month to Help Us Help You

Vote for AFGE! The Federal Labor Relations Authority is poised to announce the union election period at TSA. AFGE and the FLRA recently met and we tentatively agreed to the following details:

Election period: March 9-April 19, 2011

Ballot count: April 20, 2011

Eligible voters/bargaining unit employees: Transportation Security Officers, Lead Transportation Security Officers, Master Transportation Security Officers, Expert Transportation Security Officers, Behavior Detection Officers, Security Training Instructors and Equipment Maintenance Technicians.
Voting method: Online and via telephone. You will call a toll-free number/log in online and cast a vote using your personal PIN number.

The much-anticipated election is possible because of AFGE, which initiated the whole process by filing a petition with the FLRA in February last year. While NTEU said it was confused why AFGE would seek an election before bargaining rights were granted, AFGE insisted that a union election and bargaining rights are two different things, and the FLRA agreed with AFGE. Had everyone followed NTEU's lead, there would have been no election today. AFGE proved once again that we are the best union for TSOs. We understand that the sooner the election takes place, the better it will be for TSOs, who have been fighting for respect and dignity for almost a decade.

AFGE is the TSA union with the most accomplishments – a direct result of a decade of work at TSA. A quick look at NTEU's press releases over the years shows that NTEU lost interest in TSOs in 2003 after TSA announced TSOs would not be granted bargaining rights. NTEU renewed its interest in the TSA workforce in 2007 after AFGE did all the heavy lifting, and it appeared bargaining rights were not off the table. AFGE will never abandon you like NTEU did. We will not be confused like NTEU was when it comes to finding creative ways to win workplace rights for you. We have been fighting with you for a decade and will continue to fight for your long-overdue collective bargaining rights.

For more information about AFGE and our work on behalf of TSOs, please visit www.tsaunion.com. To comment and/or state your concerns, please visit our blog at afge-tsa.blogspot.com.