With the National Treasury Employees Union having won a union election to be the sole representative for CBP employees several years ago, the American Federation of Government Employees has tried to seize the initiative by filing a request with the Federal Labor Relations Authority to be the sole representative of some 40,000 TSA workers.
The two unions have been jockeying to represent that segment of the homeland security workforce, and NTEU has questioned the timing of AFGE’s request, noting that TSA workers have not been afforded collective bargaining rights.
NTEU said that if the FLRA determines that AFGE’s petition is valid, that it is ready to compete in a union election. “A much better alternative is for the administration to immediately grant collective bargaining rights to the TSA workforce so when employees choose their exclusive representative, the union has authority to bargain a contract,” said NTEU president Colleen Kelley.
AFGE said that while it would have been ideal for the TSA administrator to grant collective bargaining rights first – and there is some question as to the administrator’s legal authority to do so under the Homeland Security Act – “settling the question of representation first,” would allow AFGE to “be ready to begin negotiations as soon as the bargaining rights are established.”
AFGE first petitioned the FLRA in 2003 for an election for TSA workers. FLRA dismissed it, partly because it would have meant an election without collective bargaining rights, though AFGE maintains they are separate issues and believes the current make up of the FLRA might be more amenable to granting exclusive representation in the absence of bargaining rights.
For example, AFGE noted, “Rights, other than collective bargaining granted by law include the right of a union to act for and present the views of the labor organization to heads of an agency; present views to Congress and other authorities; the right to act for employees and represent them in formal discussions and disciplinary meetings; and the right to represent employees in grievance procedures, EEO and workers compensation appeals.”
