Screeners may still have the right to use a union official as a personnel representative. Image: everythingforall/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffDHS has issued a policy determination ending union representation rights for some 47,000 screeners at its subordinate agency TSA effective January 11, the latest in a series of such actions by agencies under a pair of executive orders invoking security and related considerations for excluding unions from many agencies.
The TSA “is returning to its original labor framework, in place for the first decade of the agency’s existence, in which collective bargaining and exclusive representation were not permitted,” said a letter to the AFGE union.
Union rights at TSA had been expanded by a series of determinations beginning in 2011, following an initial determination in 2003 at the agency’s beginnings that screeners could not engage in collective bargaining or be represented for those purposes. The new determination overrides those as well as one earlier this year that has been the subject of a court injunction.
Immediate impacts, the determination said, will include ending “all pending actions” between the two, such as impact and implementation bargaining and local bargaining; canceling all current grievance procedures alleging violations of the 2024 contract between them; and ending official time and voluntary dues deduction. However, screeners may still have the right to use a union official as a personnel representative, it said.
The AGE called the determination “an illegal act of retaliatory union-busting that should cause concern for every person who steps foot in an airport” and said it would continue challenging it.
“Prior to having a union contract, many employees endured hostile work environments and workers felt like they didn’t have a voice on the job, which led to severe attrition rates and longer wait times for the traveling public. Since having a contract, we’ve seen a more stable workforce, and there has never been another aviation-related attack on our country,” the union said.
It called on the Senate to follow the House’s lead in passing HR-2550, to override the executive orders, which also are under challenge in a number of court cases.
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