February 26, 2010

NTEU welcomed an announcement from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) that TSA employees at Washington Dulles International Airport will not be charged as AWOL if they were unable to report to work during recent snowstorms. 

Immediately following the back-to-back storms, NTEU objected to senior TSA officials and TSA management at Dulles, Philadelphia International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Washington National Airport about unfair emergency leave policies. Consecutive blizzards dumped more than 30 inches of snow throughout the mid-Atlantic, closing airports and making roads impassable.

"NTEU is just like that big umbrella on a rainy day. I am your member forever.  Thanks a million." NTEU TSA Member Dulles International Airport

NTEU staff attorneys drafted numerous grievances on behalf of affected TSA employees at these airports. The union continues to advise and assist employees who believe that they were unfairly forced to use their own vacation time, take leave without pay or be charged AWOL when the storms prevented them from getting to work.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley thanked Rep. Thompson for his longstanding support of TSA employees and vowed to continue to pursue the matter until all impacted employees are granted proper administrative leave.

Victory at CBP NTEU has secured a $10 million settlement on behalf of thousands of your airport colleagues at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The settlement stemmed from a grievance that NTEU filed in 2004 following CBP’s unilateral cancellation of a union-negotiated awards program. In the program, employees had input into who received awards, ensuring that performance was rewarded based on merit, not favoritism. This victory highlights the value of collective bargaining rights, as well as NTEU's commitment to fighting for federal employees, no matter the stakes or how long it takes.

"Employees should not be penalized for a situation that was out of their control," President Kelley said. “Given the unique and unprecedented challenges presented by the blizzards, it is good to know that TSA has chosen to do right by its employees.”

Several TSA employees at Dulles appreciated NTEU's efforts on their behalf. "NTEU is just like that big umbrella on a rainy day," said a Dulles member who recently filed a grievance over an unfair AWOL charge related to the storms. "Thanks a million."

In a Feb. 15 letter to TSA Acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides, President Kelley asked that TSA grant administrative leave for all employees affected by the snowstorms who made a good-faith effort to get to work, but arrived late or could not report at all.

The letter also asks Rossides to restore the annual and sick leave to employees who were forced to use it; ensure that no employee is disciplined because of a storm-related absence; and ensure that storm-related absences have no impact on employee performance ratings.

For more information, or to request assistance with a leave-related issue, contact your local NTEU representative, call toll free 1-866-591-5735 or e-mail TSA@nteu.org.

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NTEU’s Mission: To organize federal employees to work together to ensure that every federal employee is treated with dignity and respect.

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