July 31, 2008
TSA Issues Memo Against Employee Retaliation
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued an agencywide memorandum last week regarding the agency's policy on employee retaliation in the workplace. President Colleen M. Kelley said the policy would work only if properly implemented.
"A policy like this is only meaningful if it is enforced," Kelley said. "It needs to be published throughout the agency and corrective action taken against those who violate it."
Entitled, "Zero Tolerance of Retaliation in the Workplace," the recent memo sets expectations of a workplace free from hostility and employee reprisals, including termination of employment, denial of bonuses, benefits or training opportunities or a transfer to a lesser position.
The memo also outlined the availability of local peer review forums and a formal grievance process for TSA employees to use when following through with concerns or complaints, but President Kelley said the only true voice employees have comes with a grievance procedure that is forged through collective bargaining.
A recently released report by the inspector general of TSA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), sharply criticized the internal dispute resolution mechanisms put in place by TSA as unsuccessful in effectively addressing workplace issues.
"TSA employees, who play a major role at the front lines of the nation’s security, need to have a meaningful voice in their pay, scheduling, awards and other important workplace issues," she said.
The Significance of Collective Bargaining Rights
With sky-high attrition rates and a slew of personnel problems rarely seen in any other federal agency, it is abundantly clear to NTEU that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees need a real voice in their workplace. Collective bargaining will give you that voice, through an agreement reached jointly between NTEU and TSA management. It would put in place a negotiated grievance procedure that mandates arbitration of the grievance by a neutral third party.
Additionally, you would have a say in:
★ Training and certification;
★ Performance appraisals;
★ Hours of work;
★ Shifts and schedules;
★ The structure of a pay-for-performance system;
★ Health and safety issues; and
★ Dignity, respect and fair treatment.
NTEU is supporting H.R. 3212, a bill now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide collective bargaining rights to TSA employees nationwide.
For more information about collective bargaining rights, visit www.DHSunion.org/TSA, where you can send a letter to your congressional representative asking them to co-sponsor H.R. 3212. For other information, contact your local NTEU representative.
Chapter Log
The Tide is Turning at LaGuardia
Due to the hard work of NTEU and the leaders and members of Chapter 311 (TSA LaGuardia), change is coming to LaGuardia International Airport (LGA). In challenges to TSA management, NTEU has won reinstatements of employees discharged for alleged misconduct and also has mitigated disciplinary penalties.
In a victory earlier this spring, our attorneys won a reduced suspension and back pay for a TSA Officer (TSO) who allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a supervisor.
In another case, a TSO at LGA requested reassignment from baggage to passenger screening following an on-the-job back injury. TSA refused, forcing the employee to file an Equal Employment Opportunity (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 renege on the settlement and refuse 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.
"I am very impressed with and very glad that we are being represented by NTEU," said Chapter 311 (TSA LGA) Interim President Yasir Sheikh, who discussed TSA workplace issues with Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) when she recently toured LGA at NTEU's request.
Sheikh praised NTEU for having local staff attorneys positioned in the New York area to represent TSOs on critical workplace issues such as promotions, disciplinary actions, shift bidding and performance appraisals and leave issues. "I am confident that with the help of NTEU, things will change and get better at TSA," he said.
These are just some of the examples of the difference NTEU can make in the work lives of TSOs nationwide. TSA LGA members can visit the Chapter 311 web site at www.nteu311.org. For more information, contact your local NTEU representative.
