February 19, 2010
Employees Bring Frontline Voices
More than 20 NTEU TSA members representing airports from California to New York to Florida will attend the 2010 NTEU Legislative Conference.
These TSA employees bring a personal voice to the fight for collective bargaining rights.
Together with hundreds of NTEU members from other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, NTEU brings a powerful message to lawmakers.
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Collective Bargaining Rights
Hundreds to Take
Part in Lobbying Blitz
Early next month, nearly every lawmaker on Capitol Hill will receive a direct appeal from an NTEU member for full collective bargaining rights for TSA employees.
This lobbying drive is part of NTEU's annual legislative conference when hundreds of NTEU members from federal agencies across the country descend on Washington, D.C., to advance the union's priority legislative issues. Collective bargaining for TSA employees is one of NTEU's top five priorities.
The power of NTEU will support TSA employees in the drive for civil service protections that will help to address critical workplace issues such as fair pay, inadequate staffing and a lack of training opportunities, as well as inconsistent and arbitrary management decisions.
NTEU believes that those who help protect the safety and security of the nation's airports and traveling public deserve a powerful, respected, unified voice on Capitol Hill fighting for them and their rights. In a few weeks, NTEU members from across the country will provide that voice.
"TSA should be a place where employees are proud to work, but sadly, nine years after its creation, that is often not the case," NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said.
In addition to lobbying Congress, NTEU continues to urge the Obama administration to issue an executive order establishing collective bargaining at TSA.
For more information, contact your local NTEU representative, call toll free 866-591-5735 or e-mail TSA@nteu.org.
Representational Efforts Abound
With local staff attorneys experienced in federal labor law providing quality on-the-ground assistance to TSA employees at airports nationwide, NTEU's track record of representational success continues to grow.
At NTEU Chapter 304 (TSA JFK) in New York, a local staff attorney helped member Asif Amin obtain approval to take leave without pay after he had used up all available annual, sick and FMLA leave to rehabilitate a recurring leg injury. Amin is expected back on the job in mid-March.
"I am so glad that I have signed on to NTEU," Amin said. "Most of all, without NTEU's representation, my efforts would have been a lost cause."
At Chapter 331 (TSA Chicago), NTEU attorneys argued that management conducted an incomplete investigation when representing a Chicago O'Hare employee before a peer review panel. Airport officials had charged the employee with failing to follow orders and discourteous behavior toward a supervisor.
In Lafayette, La., NTEU recently won thousands of dollars in bonus money for a Chapter 329 (TSA New Orleans) member at Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) who had waited nearly three years for the payment. The cash was a "hardship retention bonus" that TSA had promised when the employee transferred from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to LFT in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"Without NTEU, I probably would not have my job."
Michael Gordon, member NTEU Chapter 319
(TSA Port Columbus)
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In Ohio, NTEU aided a Chapter 319 (TSA Port Columbus) member who management threatened to terminate on the basis of his colorblindness. When TSA officials tried to classify Michael Gordon as unfit for duty, NTEU fought back in an oral reply to management and got the proposed removal lifted. Gordon was returned to duty as a passenger screener immediately. "This battle was fought and won by NTEU," Gordon said. "I owe my livelihood to them. Without NTEU, I probably would not have my job."
Getting similar results elsewhere, local NTEU staff attorneys at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., successfully represented a member who was assessed an unfair AWOL charge despite following the proper protocol for calling in sick. Within days of NTEU filing a grievance, airport officials retracted the AWOL and properly applied paid sick leave instead.
NTEU
is ready and willing to help.
 If
you have questions, call toll free
866-591-5735 or e-mail
TSA@nteu.org.
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