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05-05-09
Rep.
Nita Lowey Meets With LaGuardia TSA Employees
Finding the best way to address the myriad of workplace
issues now facing Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
employees was the
topic of an important meeting yesterday between
Congresswoman
Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)
and local TSA Officers (TSOs)
at
LaGuardia Airport.
Rep. Lowey, a longtime champion of rights for TSOs
and a sponsor of a pending House bill to provide
collective
bargaining rights to TSOs nationwide, met with
several members of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)
Chapter 311 (NTEU LaGuardia), which represents hundreds of
TSOs at one of New York’s largest airports. The Monday visit
was the lawmaker’s second to LaGuardia in recent months to
meet with NTEU-represented TSOs.
“TSA employees are responsible for the safety of the
traveling public and should work in an environment that
respects their voice and contributions,” said NTEU National
President Colleen M. Kelley. “Instead these employees lack
critical
civil service protections and a serious voice in the
workplace. NTEU is committed to working with Rep. Lowey to
make much-needed workplace improvements that will
immediately benefit all U.S. airport travelers, including
the more than 23 million fliers who use LaGuardia Airport
each year.”
NTEU has fought for the rights of TSA employees since the
agency’s creation. Although Congress gave the TSA
Administrator the authority to decide whether TSA employees
would be granted collective bargaining rights, the previous
administration denied them those rights.
Last month, Rep. Lowey, together with House Homeland
Security Committee Chairman
Bennie
Thompson (D-Miss.) and
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), introduced H.R.
1881, the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act
of 2009 that would provide collective bargaining rights to
employees and end the agency’s failed personnel system, the
Performance and Accountability Standards System (PASS). The
bill also would move TSA employees onto the
General Schedule (GS) personnel system, a credible
and transparent system which covers most federal employees.
President Kelley praised Rep. Lowey for her efforts to
H.R.1881 and for listening to the workplace concerns of
everyday TSOs. “Lowey’s bill opens the door to a huge
opportunity to make TSA the best-run
airport
security agency in the world,” Kelley said. “Given
the crucial position of TSA employees in protecting our
nation’s airports and securing the safety of the traveling
public, putting them onto a true merit pay system and giving
them a seat at the table will serve our country well.
NTEU has a well-established record of delivering
workplace rights and benefits to
U.S. Customs
and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs), who work
alongside TSOs in airports across the country, including at
LaGuardia Airport . NTEU
is the exclusive representative of the
21,000-employee CBP unit.
Thanks to NTEU, CBPOs are able to work a straight
eight-hour day; are paid on the
General Schedule (GS) like the
majority of federal employees; and have access to a pay
differential if they speak a foreign language for their job.
Last year, NTEU won CBPOs an enhanced
law
enforcement officer retirement benefit. None of these
benefits are currently available to TSOs. TSA employees see
the stability of the CBP workplace and the respect the
Officers are accorded and want NTEU’s help in securing the
same type of workplace environment.
“NTEU is uniquely qualified to represent TSA employees
given its long history of representing other federal
employees who work in our nation’s airports and protect our
security,” President Kelley said. “Securing full collective
bargaining rights for TSOs and giving these dedicated
employees a powerful voice in their everyday work lives is
our top
priority.”
Securing full civil service protections for TSOs is a key
component of the NTEU’s comprehensive five-point plan for
the TSA workforce—a concrete set of goals that will ensure
stability of the agency nationwide. The plan calls for
collective bargaining rights and an end to PASS, along with
full
whistleblower protections by statute; a fair
shift-scheduling system and adequate staffing; and revisions
to the current TSA training and recertification system
In
addition to LaGuardia, NTEU represents hundreds of TSOs at
JFK International Airport and thousands more nationwide. The
union also is actively organizing at
Newark Liberty International Airport and in
the state’s capital city at
Albany International Airport.
The largest independent
federal employees union, NTEU represents some 150,000
employees in 31 agencies and departments.
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