Union reaches tentative first
contract for airport screeners
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In 2003,
as Transportation Security Administra-
tion (TSA) workers at several airports
were readying to vote on unionization,
the Bush Administration, citing so-
called “national security” concerns, ter-
minated the screeners’ collective bar-
gaining rights.
For nearly a decade, Congressional
Republicans used veto threats, fili-
busters, holds on nominations, and
other maneuvers to block efforts to re-
store the workers’ bargaining rights.
In February 2011, some 45,000 TSA
screeners finally won the right to join a
union. In June, workers at more than
450 airports voted to join the American
Federation of Government Employees
(AFGE).
They reached their first-ever labor
contract — with help from a federal
mediator — at 3 a.m. on Aug. 2. Work-
ers will vote on the contract proposal
later this month.
“For 10 long years, AFGE has
fought hard so that transportation secu-
rity officers (TSOs) would have collec-
tive bargaining rights,” said retiring
AFGE President John Gage. “We have
often looked back and wondered why it
was taking so long. Today, we begin to
look forward.”
Details of the contract were not re-
leased, pending the ratification vote.
But like other federal workers’ con-
tracts, it does not cover wages and many
benefits. Instead, the union bargains
over working conditions and similar is-
sues. Key gains were in family-friendly
schedule flexibility and in a new and
fair dispute resolution process that in-
cludes an independent, third-party re-
(Turn to Page 26)
The Pacific Northwest Iron
Workers District Council
and
Affiliated Local Unions
Iron Workers Local 14, Spokane, WA.
Iron Workers Local 29, Portland, OR.
Iron Workers Local 86, Seattle, WA.
Iron Workers Local 751, Anchorage, AK.
Iron Workers Local 506, Seattle, WA.
Iron Workers Local 516, Portland, OR.
We Honor All the Working Men and Women on Labor Day.
We wish the working families of Oregon
and Washington a very special Labor Day.
PAGE 10
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
AUGUST 17, 2012