June 30, 2008
IG Report on TSA Reveals National Security Risks
A recent report by the inspector general of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has raised the ire of President Colleen M. Kelley, who agreed with the report’s analysis that the internal dispute resolution mechanisms put in place by the agency to address workplace issues are so ineffective they are threatening the nation’s security.
The report, which was dated May 2008 but became public in a recent news report in USA Today, demonstrates the blatant unfairness of the systems put in place by TSA in lieu of granting these employees the same collective bargaining rights other federal employees have. NTEU is leading the fight for legislation that would provide TSA employees with these rights.
“This report provides clear evidence of the need for collective bargaining rights for TSA employees including an effective and negotiated grievance procedure and having issues heard and decided by a neutral and outside third-party arbitrator,” Kelley said.
The IG’s report (OIG-08-62) specifically addresses TSA’s Office of the Ombudsman, Integrated Conflict Management System and National Advisory Council. It concludes that because these programs do not successfully address long-standing workplace issues effectively, they may in fact provide “false hope and have the unanticipated effects of heightening employee dissatisfaction and further undermining morale.”
For the complete story, click here or visit <http://www.dhsunion.org/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1299>.
Stories from the Field
NTEU Makes a Difference for Individual Employees
Following an on-the-job back injury, a TSO at LGA requested reassignment from baggage to passenger screening where he could do his job without aggravating his back. TSA refused, forcing the employee to file an EEO complaint alleging disability discrimination.
NTEU stepped in and reached a settlement that called for TSA to properly cross-train the TSO within six weeks. The employee successfully completed the training and applied to work in the passenger checkpoint area, where there was no further risk of back injury.
But once the retraining was complete, TSA tried to pull a fast one. Management revoked the settlement agreement and declined the TSO’s reassignment request. NTEU held firm, arguing that TSA could not change the settlement agreement unilaterally and forced TSA to back down and fulfill the TSO’s initial request.
In Atlanta, two employees were fired last summer after being moved from baggage operations to passenger screening and failing to pass the image screening tests. NTEU took on their cases and argued that the employees had inadequate training and that the testing procedure was flawed. Furthermore, the union argued, before TSA’s internal board, that the agency did not follow its own internal directives which require that cross-trained employees who fail to pass testing in their new position must be moved back to their former position—in this case baggage operations—before any dismissal is instigated. Neither employee was given this opportunity.
NTEU won both cases and the employees returned to work. But even better than that—they both received full back pay for the time they were fighting.
These are only a few examples of the difference NTEU is making through our chapters at JFK, LGA and ATL for employees who are unfairly treated. That makes four TSOs at ATL with similar complaints who have returned to work with full back pay courtesy of NTEU in just the past six months.
Since NTEU started representing employees through our chapters, the odds of an employee winning a case have increased dramatically and the union’s work is resonating across the TSA workplace.
For more information, contact your chapter president or National Field Representative.
New Video Shows the Benefits of NTEU Membership
NTEU has debuted a new video spotlighting our work on behalf of federal employees, as well as our future plans to improve the quality of your workplace. Now available on our TSA web page, the video features National President Colleen M. Kelley and other NTEU TSA leaders discussing our successful battles and explaining our value to frontline security employees.
Since we began organizing TSA employees last year, we have chartered three TSA chapters—at JFK, LGA and ATL—and successfully introduced an aggressive, five-point representation plan for the entire TSA workforce.
For more information, call toll-free (866) 591-5735 or visit
www.DHSunion.org/TSA.
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