The Transportation Security Administration negotiated the first contract in its ten-year history with airport security screeners at Newark?s Liberty International Airport Thursday. The new agreement contains provisions for third-party arbitration over disciplinary disagreements, as well as an improved mechanism for rewarding employees with merit-based pay increases. Republicans had long argued against unionization among TSA employees, claiming that negotiations and disputes could impede the agency?s effectiveness. Supporters of the new contract counter, however, that security will be improved at the airport by increasing screeners? morale.
See "TSA and screeners agree on first-ever contract", Steve Strunsky, The Star-Ledger, August 2, 2012