FLRA Regional Director Dismisses TSA Representation Petitions; Appeal to FLRA Expected

06/02/2010

6/2/10: As expected by NTEU, the Chicago Regional Director of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) last week dismissed petitions filed by NTEU and another union seeking a union representation election among employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

“This was the expected decision,” said NTEU National President Colleen Kelley, “and sets the stage for an appeal to the three-member FLRA asking it to review its 2003 decision turning down a request for a representation election in TSA because agency employees lack collective bargaining rights.”

President Kelley said NTEU will file such an application for review, raising the same fundamental questions about what exclusive representation means without collective bargaining rights, particularly questions about the nature of employee and union rights and TSA’s obligations to its employees and their union under those circumstances. NTEU raised these questions in an earlier filing with the Regional Director.

Meanwhile, NTEU continues to be engaged in an aggressive organizing campaign among TSA employees and represents thousands of them at airports across the nation.

NTEU’s preferred resolution of the present situation is for the administration to issue a directive granting TSA employees their long-denied rights to bargain collectively. “That would clear the way for a representation election that would bring to the TSA workplace a mechanism for the voices of frontline employees to be heard,” Kelley said. At the same time, she emphasized that NTEU continues to seek legislation that would provide for such rights.

“NTEU will continue our aggressive pursuit of collective bargaining rights for TSA employees, and regardless of the course taken, we will have a place on an eventual election ballot to ensure that employees have a