The largest federal employee union has lost the latest battle
in its war to win collective bargaining rights for Transportation
Security Administration airport screeners.
On Friday, a federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit
lodged against the security agency by the American Federation of
Government Employees. The union sought to overturn a decision by
TSA Administrator James Loy, who blocked screeners from collective
bargaining in January, saying that bargaining “is not compatible
with the flexibility required to wage the war against terrorism.”
“It is reckless and capricious to deprive this small group of
federal workers from being allowed to form a union and bargain
collectively while allowing millions of others, also engaged in
the fight against terrorism, to do so,” said AFGE President John
Gage.
Union officials asked the Federal Labor Relations Authority to
reverse Loy's decision, arguing that when Congress created the
agency, it gave airport screeners rights similar to those of
employees at the Federal Aviation Administration. Those rights
include collective bargaining. In July, a regional
FLRA chief ruled that Loy was legally able to restrict
screener collective bargaining rights. AFGE then decided to take
the fight to federal district court, but on Friday a judge
dismissed the case and instructed AFGE to take its argument to the
full FLRA.
“We're not going to abandon these employees,” Gage vowed
Friday, following the court decision.
A TSA spokesman said officials there could not comment on
pending litigation.
