and America takes another one in the........
Posted on 08/06/2012 2:18:49 PM PDT by Crazieman
From The Right Scoop, initially blogged by PJ Media:
As of Thursday, August 2, 2012, the Transportation Security Administration has agreed to unionize. The agency, best known for groping and offending Americans as we attempt to fly from one part of the country to the other, has agreed to allow the American Federation of Government Employees to unionize its workers.
From the Facebook page of the American Federation of Government Employees, the official announcement:
“For 10 long years AFGE has fought hard so that Transportation Security Officers would have collective bargaining rights. We have often looked back and wondered why it was taking so long,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “Today we begin to look forward.”“This collective bargaining agreement will better the working lives of 45,000 hard-working, dedicated employees, and that’s a fantastic feeling,” AFGE TSA Council 100 President Kim Kraynak-Lambert said. “TSOs come to work every day in the face of intense public and congressional scrutiny and, to the best of their ability, protect this nation from terrorist attacks. Now we can look forward to new rights and new working conditions, and a chance to form a true labor-management partnership. And, contrary to some of the misinformation circulating about TSA, an agreement will not adversely affect security – security related matters were strictly excluded from negotiations. In fact, this agreement will strengthen our ability to carry out TSA’s vital mission of protecting the American people.”
“What this contract will do is provide for increased uniformity on fair treatment and the other issues important to employees across the nation’s airports,” Gage added. “Both parties believe the agreement will also provide much needed schedule flexibility. Improvements in working conditions will also benefit both TSA and the officers by fostering a family-friendly workplace where the employees have greater job satisfaction and feel supported in performing their important security work.”
Of course, the TSA workforce will have to vote on whether or not to ratify the collective bargaining agreement. According to the aforementioned Facebook announcement, that process will be taking place in the coming months. In the meantime, so many jokes can be made about this. Off the top of my head…
1. Fostering a family-friendly workplace. Does that mean no mothers, grandmothers, and children will be groped?
2. Does the TSA’s “important security work” include protection from sexual harassment by federal employees?
3. I’m curious about these “new rights” that TSA employees will get. Will those new rights be given in exchange for giving law-abiding Americans our rights back?
4. “New working conditions,” huh? Given that at least one estimate has said the TSA at one point had failed screening tests 70% of the time, perhaps those new working conditions could include actually finding at least one person who is a potential terrorist threat?
5. From my buddy Nick R. Brown, who is far more clever than I am: “If they strike, do we get to opt out of gropings?”
In all seriousness, the TSA needs significant reform, but this isn’t it. We really don’t need further complications or expense within an agency that continually and unnecessarily violates too many constitutional rights to keep track of. I personally support eliminating its existence entirely, though I admit to not having a cohesive replacement strategy in mind. Last year Ed suggested the TSA continue to look at how Israel conduct its airport security, though a former co-worker with expertise in the airline industry told me that what Israel does would not work for America. Any suggestions in the comments as to how to phase out the TSA and replace it with something better? Or should the TSA stay, and merely be significantly modified?
[Update] A number of comments are talking about the unionization, and asking how it came to be, since the Bush Administration hadn’t allowed unionization. I called James Sherk of The Heritage Foundation to ask him about this, and he explained that the decision to collectively bargain or not has been left up to the Administrator of the TSA. James pointed out that while workers have a right to join a union because of free association, the question always remains as to whether the employer will bargain with that union. Obviously, under Bush, no Administrator was going to do so. Once President Obama got his pick for Administrator through the Senate, however, he instituted collective bargaining in the agency.
Makes perfect sense to me. Inferior people always unionize in today’s workforce.
The day’s of REAL reasons to unionize are mostly all gone.
The democrats finally found a way to politically profit from terrorism.
Oh, they had those before this...this is just another way for them to politically profit from terrorism.
This is just a bone thrown to Richie Trumka to salve him over not getting Card Check, and to thank him for joining the campaign to help deal with Obama’s “white guy problem”.
Can the function of airport screening be privatized? I understand that this has been done in several locations, with good results (less wait time, more efficient use of personnel, and generally better conditions for the screeners), and it also takes away a potential source of greater bureaucratic intercession.
The screening of air passengers should have ALWAYS been the purview and duty of the airlines themselves, as they are the ones whose equipment is under threat, and whose aircrews are at risk. Government employees have no such incentive to take their duties anywhere nearly as seriously.
Now watch the cost balloon, plus you’ll not be able to fire somebody when they feel-you-up.
Workers should only be able to unionize if they can show widespread mistreatment. This is TSA, a government job, how bad can it be?
...if we thought a “screener with a badge” was bad before, any bets as to when the next “abuse of power” story appears?
The government said “Don’t complain, it could be worse.”
Now they are determined to prove it.
Awesome, government unions make everything better. /sarc
I’d let them unionize if they’d figure out how to collect their paychecks without xraying or irradiating or groping us. (We’ve stopped flying until these fine folks can do this )
First strike, they need to become the incarnation of the air traffic controllers under Reagan: unemployed.
Do you REALLY think an ObaRomney would fire govt workers?
and America takes another one in the........
Since I haven’t flown since Jan. 2005 and plan to never ever fly or step foot on any airport property again for the rest of my life - I don’t care.
Great — the lines will get longer and airfares will rise higher.
My bet, the answer is like the president, zero.
5.56mm
now that they’re free from worry over being fired they can really give us a good groping.
Many Freepers predicted when it was created, this (and similar ) would be the outcome when Bush authorized creation of DHS.
if the boondoggle fits...intentions don’t matter.outcomes do.
$1 Billion Airport Security Program Yet to Catch a Terrorist
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2748080/posts
T.S.A. Says Airport Security Officers Can Unionize
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2668699/posts
AND THEY CAN VOTE!
Not to worry, we have a fast, efficient money making railroad to travel on to get around all the government airport BS.
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