The American Federation of Government Employees, a public sector union under the umbrella of the AFL-CIO, won the right today to represent the more than 40,000 airport screeners of the Transportation Security Administration.
TSA screeners elected the AFGE in a runoff vote against the National Treasury Employees Union by a narrow margin. Screeners will now have limited collective bargaining rights, not including pay or security issues. They’ll also be banned from striking. (Sen. Paul tells TSA to end random patdowns)
“We are obviously thrilled with the election results, but more importantly are delighted that the transportation security officers now will have the full union representation they rightly deserve,” AFGE President John Gage said in a statement.
The Obama administration granted TSA screeners the right to organize several months ago. A first vote between the AFGE and NTEU was held in April, but neither achieved a decisive majority.