TSOs Elect AFGE as Their Union
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Even as the right to join a union is under attack across the country, more than 40,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees in 450 airports today made a strong statement for workers’ rights by electing AFGE as their exclusive union representative. The 8,903-8,447 vote came in a runoff with the National Treasury Employees Union.
AFGE President John Gage said:
We are obviously thrilled with the election results, but more importantly are delighted that the transportation security officers (TSOs) now will have the full union representation they rightly deserve. AFGE thanks the TSOs for their support and faith in our union.
In April, nearly 85 percent of the TSOs who voted chose to join a union. AFGE led the voting in that election but did not garner an outright majority.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement:
Today’s victory affirms the deep-seated desire of working people across the country for a voice on the job and a seat at the table in solving workplace problems when given a free choice.
Nearly 85 Percent of TSOs Vote for Union
In one of the biggest union elections in recent years, nearly 85 percent of the transportation security officers (TSOs) voted to join a union. AFGE led the voting and will face a runoff with another union to determine who will represent the 43,000 TSOs at 450 of the nation’s airports.
The ballot offered three choices: AFGE, no union or NTEU, an unaffiliated union. The voting began March 9 and ended April 19. In order to win, one of the choices had to gain 50 percent plus one vote of all the TSOs voting. No date has been set for the runoff.
Even though the TSOs did not have collective bargaining rights, more than 12,000 TSO members are currently in 40 AFGE local unions across the country. It took 10 years before the TSOs finally gained the right to bargain. At its March meeting, the AFL-CIO Executive Council approved a statement supporting the officers right to bargain, which said, in part:
Having won the right to bargain collectively, TSA (Transportation Security Administration) workers are now poised to elect their exclusive union representative…. With the support of AFGE, which has worked so persistently and aggressively on their behalf, and with the full backing and assistance of the AFL-CIO, these workers will be successful.
The AFL-CIO also is asking union members to speak with the TSOs whenever you’re in an airport and urge the workers to “Vote Yes for AFGE.”
Be a Facebook Friend of TSA Workers
For more than eight years, the 40,000 uniformed officers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have fought to win back the collective bargaining rights the Bush administration stole away from them.
You have the chance to join in their fight without even moving from your computer keyboard. AFGE member Lance Stewart, the creator of the Facebook page for TSA workers, just launched a drive to win 100,000 friends for the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs).
If a dog named Buddy can have a Facebook page with almost 125,000 members, I know we can also exceed 100,000 members in support of the TSO’s fight for justice….Let’s get the House of Labor behind this by having every labor supporter on Facebook join our page.
Union Members Join in Solidarity with Transportation Security Officers
At 23 major airports across the country, transportation security officers (TSOs) and union members working in the airline industry and airports held rallies and showed their support last week for TSO bargaining rights, which these employees have been denied since 2001.
Although TSOs have been denied their freedom to collectively bargain, thousands have joined AFGE, receiving representation and assistance in cases of discrimination and on-the-job mistreatment.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker joined union members and local officials in Atlanta for a press conference Friday, and union members showed support for TSOs from Boston to Honolulu, from Seattle to Minnesota, Miami and other places.
Seattle Workers Rally to Support TSO Union
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Dozens of union members, elected officials and community supporters gathered at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) Airport this week in solidarity with tens of thousands of transportation security officers (TSOs) who want to form a union with AFGE.
The Seattle rally shows workers across the country are standing strongly behind the employees who protect the flying public. The AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are mobilizing to draw attention to the plight of these workers and the unfair ways they are being treated.
Even though federal border guards, immigration and customs and Federal Protective Service employees are already union members, TSOs still do not have collective bargaining rights.
Screeners Closer to Long Overdue Bargaining Rights
Some 43,000 airport screeners at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) yesterday moved another step closer to winning “long overdue” collective bargaining rights and other workplace protections.
By a 19-10 party-line vote, the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved legislation (H.R. 1881) restoring the workers’ rights that the Bush administration stripped away in 2003. In addition, the bill grants the screeners—also known as Transportation Security Officers (TSOs)—and other TSA workers “whistle-blower” rights and the same civil service protections enjoyed by other federal workers.
Committee chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) says the restoration of collective bargaining rights is “long overdue” and will help the agency
deal with the high attrition, low morale and severe workplace injury rates that have plagued the agency since its creation in 2001.
Airport Screeners Move Closer to Bargaining Rights
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.
