TSA Workers Begin Voting for Exclusive Union Representative

AFGE confident in victorious election outcome

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Some 44,000 Transportation Security Administration employees at airports across the country are ready today to elect the American Federation of Government Employees as their exclusive union representative. Voting for the TSA union election will take place from March 9-April 19, with the results being tabulated beginning April 20. The election will be done online and via telephone with each voter receiving a personal ID and PIN number.

AFGE National President John Gage today issued the following statement:

There is one reason we are in an election today, and that is AFGE. This election is only possible because of the innovative, outside-the-box thinking of AFGE. Only AFGE had the insight to file a petition for a union election prior to the affirmation of collective bargaining rights.

Everyone, including the Treasury union, questioned our decision to file an election petition without first having collective bargaining rights, but it doesn't take a genius now to see the wisdom in that decision. The bargaining rights were affirmed by the TSA administrator in February, at which point the election already had been called for. Now, we are able to immediately settle the question of representation, which means that AFGE will be poised to begin negotiations immediately after winning the election.

AFGE leaders, activists and staff have been visiting airports throughout the country for the past two weeks and one thing is clear: TSOs are ready to vote overwhelmingly for AFGE.

From the beginning, only AFGE has stood by TSOs. Only AFGE took on the most powerful government in the world and would not accept that TSOs could not have a voice at work. Only AFGE never gave up. We have carried this fight alone.

I am particularly proud of AFGE's diversity, our union democracy, and our bottom-up emphasis that keeps our rank-and-file members first and foremost.

AFGE can truthfully and proudly say that we have been the only union at airports around the country for nine years fighting for the respect and dignity due TSOs. As the only union with strong backing from the powerful AFL-CIO and its 12 million members, we have the utmost confidence that TSOs will join the tens of thousands of other DHS employees already represented by AFGE and vote overwhelmingly for AFGE.

AFGE currently has more than 12,000 dues-paying members in 40 AFGE TSA Locals across the country. Up-to-date election information can be found directly at www.TSAUnionElection.com.

AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia, including tens of thousands of DHS employees in Border Patrol, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FEMA, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Federal Protective Service, Office of Immigration Statistics and TSA.

SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees