Union Representation For TSA Screeners

The cost, for letting the TSA rank and file become unionized, is expected to be in the neighborhood of 30 millions dollars. That 30 Million dollars will go to the union that gets to represent the workforce.

They estimate that the union dues will be around $50 a month. 50 bucks a month times 50,000 workers works out to be 2,500,000 per month. Not bad for a union that does nothing for their members.

Pistole's Consultant Report

It's been two months since the Washington Post reported on Pistole's union impact study. This study will be performed by outside consultants and aims to assess the impact unionization would have on TSA operations. Did Pistole put that thing out to bid, or does he have executive authority to enter into consulting contracts? Most importantly, is Pistole controlling the number of yellow highlighting markers the consultants can use? Is Pistole checking to see if the consultants are paid adequate wages according to locality? Did Pistole check to see if the consultants subcontract x% of their work to qualified small business concerns or service disabled veterans? I know the purchasing department has their hands full, but is this all above board?

TSA moving closer to unionization

It may seem curious as to why we all should be concerned about TSA becoming unionized. Well, if the way we have been represented is any indication, then it could only be a negative thing for the nation as a whole. After all, our motto here is Security First.

What is funny is when the president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Colleen Kelley states that, “Federal labor relations are set up so that the mission of every agency is of paramount importance.” Yeah, right!

When you couple things like TSA moving forward with unionizing and then TSA kowtowing to the ACLU in regards to the AIT equipment by changing the pictures an Officer sees to an avatar, you really have to wonder if TSA is truly serious about airport security.

John Pistole drops by SFO

John Pistole, the newly appointed head of TSA, is making an appearance today at SFO. Perhaps we should all tell him that John Gage, the head of AFGE, has it all wrong when he stated that workers at SFO were content simply because we are covered by a union contract.

Or maybe we should let him know that his predecessor's supposed legacy of the Checkpoint Evolution program is not only not being used, but is actually being discouraged by Covenant Aviation Security management.

There are a whole host of things we could talk to him about. Will he be a typical bureaucrat or someone who wants to improve things? We're going to go with the former.

Oh really!

For those of you that haven't been following what's been happening with TSA lately, not long ago they installed a new head of TSA. John Pistole was finally approved by congress after a number of candidates failed to get the necessary support for congressional approval. Pistole is open to the idea of unionizing TSA. In fact, just recently he was having meetings with the head of AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) John Gage, the big union that represents most of government workers. They're in talks to allow TSA employees not only to unionize, but to be represented by a CBA.

According to this article from govexec.com Gage has some interesting beliefs in regards to SFO. He is somehow under the notion that morale is high and turnover rates are low! But here's the kicker, in which Gage says:

Workers felt they didn't have to fret, piss and moan about issues because they were taken care of through a union contract, and were better able to concentrate on their jobs without stewing over union issues.

HUH? What pipe has he been smoking? Anyway, this is shaping up to be an interesting story. Considering that there is talk within TSA that TSOs, LTSOs, etc. are starting to become a little too expensive with TSA's current PASS system. What better way to keep the costs down than to make a back room deal with the union. Does that sound a little too familiar with us?