New Determination Allows Transportation Security Officers To
Vote
Affirming the fears of those who see the TSA on a
never-ending spiral toward trouble, TSA Boss John Pistole has
decided to allow Transportation Security Officers to engage in
collective bargaining... despite the original promise that no
aspect of the TSA would be allowed to such union activity when
it was created in the wake of the fear and hysteria following
9/11.
U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator
John Pistole has issued a controversial Determination that
'provides a framework to protect TSA’s ability to respond to
evolving threats while allowing Transportation Security Officers
(TSOs) to vote on whether or not they wish to be represented by a
union for the purposes of engaging in limited, clearly defined
collective bargaining at the national level only on non-security
employment issues. If a union is chosen, each security officer will
retain the right to choose whether or not to join the union.'
Representative John L. Mica (R), who was instrumental in the
creation of TSA and has been sharply critical of the organization's
recent direction opined that, “This will be President
Obama’s biggest gift to organized labor..." and added that
the decision was, "all bad news for the traveler, the taxpayer and
aviation security,” ostensibly because it might tend to
inhibit limit the flexibility of the agency, though Pistole assures
otherwise.
TSA Administrator Pistole
“The safety of the traveling public is our top priority
and we will not negotiate on security,” said TSA
Administrator Pistole. “But morale and employee engagement
cannot be separated from achieving superior security. If security
officers vote to move forward with collective bargaining, this
framework will ensure that TSA retains the capability and
flexibility necessary to respond to evolving threats, and continue
improving employee engagement, performance and professional
development.”
This framework is unique to TSA in that it allows for bargaining
at the national level only – while prohibiting local-level
bargaining at individual airports – on certain employment
issues such as shift bids, transfers and awards. Pistole’s
Determination prohibits bargaining on any topics that might affect
security, such as:
- Security policies, procedures or the deployment of security
personnel or equipment
- Pay, pensions and any form of compensation
- Proficiency testing
- Job qualifications
- Discipline standards
TSA statements add that the Determination strictly prohibits
officers from striking or engaging in work slowdowns of any kind
(which has not stopped other governmental unions from such
actions... -- ed.)
Last November, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
issued a decision that called for an election among TSOs to
determine whether a majority of officers wished to have exclusive
union representation for purposes other than collective bargaining.
Pistole’s Determination allows this election to move forward,
consistent with TSA's security mission and conducted under his
Determination’s carefully defined framework.
Under the legislation that created TSA, Congress expressly
granted the TSA Administrator sole authority to establish the terms
and conditions of employment for security officers at airports.
Administrator Pistole pledged during his confirmation hearings
that he would complete a thorough assessment of the impact
collective bargaining might have on the safety and security of the
traveling public. The recently completed assessment included a
review of employee data, a broad range of conversations, input from
employees, TSA management and from the two union presidents, as
well as interviews with the present and former leaders of a variety
of security and law enforcement agencies and organizations. These
included federal, state, and local government agencies such as the
NYPD and Customs and Border Protection and employers of unionized
guards at a number of national security facilities such as secure
nuclear weapon and Department of Defense facilities, as well as
experts on labor relations in high performance organizations.
Interviews were also conducted with management at two airports that
are part of TSA’s Screening Partnership Program that have
unionized contracted screeners.
TSA notes that during its formative years, collective bargaining
was prohibited, although membership in a union was not. More than
13,000 TSOs are currently paying dues to one or more labor unions,
but the unions provide personal rather than collective
representation and cannot bargain on behalf of the officers.