AFGE Angling To Represent TSOs
With close to 10,000 TSA members in 22 Locals nationwide, the
American Federation of Government Employees added to its ranks
recently with a new Local in Dallas, TX. More than 100
Transportation Security Officers at Dallas/Fort Worth International
and Dallas Love Field airports joined Local 1040 after it was
chartered in August.
"AFGE has stood behind TSOs in Dallas for seven years, but this
new Local means that TSOs will have a voice at home, not just one
nationally," said Local 1040 President Greg Gallo. "As a member of
TSA's first class in 2001, I have seen the ups and downs at the
agency. Unfortunately, there are mostly downs so an AFGE presence
is imperative to boosting confidence and morale."
The union says its influence in Dallas has
already been felt... citing a case earlier this year, in which a
TSO was restored to her position as a Lead after AFGE argued that
TSA management failed to follow the doctrine of progressive
discipline in determining the appropriate discipline in her case
and that a demotion was excessive punishment.
TSOs in Dallas also have been active in AFGE's campaign to
organize TSA workers and to obtain the same collective bargaining
rights available to other national law enforcement officers. In
contrast to other employees at the Department of Homeland Security,
and most other federal employees, TSOs do not have such rights.
AFGE
has lobbied for such provisions since TSA's inception... and is
encouraged by the recent election of Barack Obama as President,
given his union-friendly stance.
"AFGE is excited to add yet another new Local to its growing
list of localized chapters across the country," AFGE National
President John Gage said. "The new Local signifies a growing trend
among TSOs that they want local representation, while belonging to
the largest -- and among the most influential -- federal employee
union in the nation. AFGE is the only union that can offer that,
and will continue its drive to have Locals in every major city in
the US."
AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000
workers in the federal government and the government of the
District of Columbia, including the largest constituency of DHS
employees.
AFGE has been the only union to represent TSA employees since
the agency's inception and with members in 129 airports nationwide,
and is "widely recognized" as the TSA union... though at the
moment, TSA workers remain officially non-unionized.