In the latest, early move in a union competition to represent the airport screener workforce, the National Treasury Employees Union has filed a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority seeking an election to decide which union would get exclusive representation rights over the lucrative and influential 40,000-strong screener workforce.
Screeners are allowed to join unions, but they do not have collective bargaining rights. In recent confirmation hearings President Obama’s nominee as the next TSA administrator, retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Harding was ambiguous regarding his views and intentions for collective bargaining.
Sen. Kay Bailey-Hutchison, R-Texas, prompted Harding to give his views of bargaining, and he responded by saying he would not "bargain away security" and that he needed to meet with departmental officials at multiple levels before advising DHS secretary Janet Napolitano on bargaining rights for screeners.
Unions point to low morale and high turnover among the screener workforce and say organization and representation would help stabilize it and treat it more fairly. Opponents to collective bargaining often cite the need for flexibility in the screener workforce in being able to respond to threats and maintain security without having to haggle over workplace conditions or other rules.
The American Federation of Government Employees, NTEU’s main competitor, filed a similar FLRA petition in February, arguing, "By settling the question of representation first, AFGE will be ready to begin negotiations as soon as the bargaining rights are established."
NTEU won a union election to become the sole representative of Customs and Border Protection employees in 2006. The FLRA rejected an earlier TSA workforce petition filed by AFGE in 2003, but NTEU said it filed its current FLRA petition to ensure it would be on the ballot in case the FLRA reversed itself and decided to move ahead with an election.
The FLRA in March requested information from DHS and TSA and is reviewing AFGE’s petition.