Catherwood LibraryILR School

In its latest seeming attack on the U.S. labor movement, and public sector unions in particular, the Bush administration announced yesterday that it will deny 56,000 federal airport luggage and passenger screeners the right to organize. As justification for the decision, the head of the Transportation Security Administration James Loy and a spokesman for the agency offered the argument that the presence of a union would interfere with the agency's flexibility to make rescheduling decisions in the face of terrorist threats. In the middle of efforts to organize screeners, the American Federation of Government Employees has condemned the decision as illegal and vowed to proceed with organizing efforts and file a lawsuit---citing complaints that screeners are not being paid for overtime and are forced to work as much as 21 hours straight, in arguing that a union presence is desperately needed.