The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) yesterday swore in the first members of a new nationwide chapter for airport security screeners employed by the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Despite the Bush administration's decision to eliminate the rights of the 56,000 members of the TSA to organize on the grounds that unionization would interfere with national security (see WIT for Jan. 10, 2003), the president of the AFGE promised to represent the screeners in other ways. In addition to its plans to pursue discrimination complaints, grievance filings, workers' compensation cases, and other legal claims on behalf of the screeners, the AFGE has petitioned the Federal Labor Relations Authority and filed suit in federal court to win back the screeners' labor rights.
See "13 Airport Screeners Join Union in Battle Over Collective Bargaining", STEPHEN BARR, The Washington Post, March 3, 2003