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Airport Screeners Move Closer to Bargaining Rights |
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The nation’s 43.000 airport screeners are a big step closer to having the basic freedom to choose a union and bargain collectively. Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee approved legislation that would give transportation security officers (TSOs) the same workplace protections covering other federal employees.
Security screeners in airports around the country are the first line of defense against terrorism in our skies. But they suffer from high injury rates, attrition and low morale, according to the committee.
Although TSOs have been denied the freedom to bargain collectively, AFGE represents 10,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers nationwide and regularly represents these employees before the TSA Disciplinary Review Board, the Equal Opportunity Commission, Congress and in the courts.
Says Rep. Nita Lowery (D-N.Y.), sponsor of the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act (H.R. 1881):
Treating our security workforce like spare parts only hinders the development of an experienced and dedicated workforce focused on protecting the public. Extending basic workplace protections to TSOs is not only the right thing to do…it will decrease costs and improve results of our air security.
In 2003, President George Bush took bargaining rights away from TSOs and other workers at the TSA in one of the first shots in his war on America’s workers. Both the House and the Senate approved bargaining rights for TSOs in 2007, but that provision was dropped in conference after Bush threatened to veto the bill.
This time, the bill appears to have strong White House support. As a member of the Senate in 2007, President Obama voted for bargaining rights for the screeners. The Washington Post quoted an October letter from Obama to AFGE President John Gage, which said:
…advocating for TSOs to receive collective bargaining rights and workplace protections will be a priority for my administration. It is unacceptable for TSOs to work under unfair rules and without workplace protections—this makes it more difficult for them to perform their jobs.
The bill now goes to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, says the panel’s vote
brings us one step closer to affording the workforce with the protections, rights, pay and benefits that their colleagues across DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and the federal government enjoy.
Aubrey Williams, a member of AFGE Local 555 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told the Post the legislation will transform the TSA.
That is extremely exciting news for us. The ramifications of that will be an entirely different TSA. [Collective bargaining] will level the playing field in promotions, seniority and evaluations, while ending the current pay-for-performance system and providing union members the ability to grieve injustices. Those are things we are looking for to make TSA a better place to work.
3 Comments
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Great news. The TSA workers need the right to join a Union. I travel by air several times a year and I always speak to at least a couple of TSA workers at the Airports about joining the Union when the opportunity arises. They were all interested.
It’s about time airport screeners got collective bargaining rights. I hope the bill allowint this makes it through Congress in record speed and is signed into law by President Obama.
The screeners aren’t asking for much, just equality with other federal workers in terms of collective bargaining rights.
Great news. Also, great to see the name Aubrey Williams in
print. Is he descendant of Aubrey Williams of New Deal fame and
later National Farmers Union and rural South Civil Rights advocate and independent investigative journalist ? Someone please answer: mihalovitch @rgwd07msn.com. Thanks.