TSA to go Union... It just keeps gettin' better...

[Teresa Heilevang]

Oh Sure, The TSA Is Hated and Inneffective Now, But Things Will Get Better When They Unionize, Right?

By: Mark Hemingway
Washington Examiner

Lost in all the hoopla about TSA’s turn-your-head-and-cough security checks and so-called new “porno-scanners” is the news that TSA is about to unionize:

In a significant victory for federal employee unions, the Federal Labor Relations Authority decided Friday that Transportation Security Administration staffers will be allowed to vote on union representation.

The decision clears the way for a campaign by the government’s two largest labor organizations, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, to represent some 50,000 transportation security officers.

“It is no secret that the morale of the TSO workforce is terrible as a result of favoritism, a lack of fair and respectful treatment from many managers, poor and unhealthy conditions in some airports, poor training and testing protocols and a poor pay system,” said AFGE President John Gage. “The morale problems are documented by the government’s own surveys. TSOs need a recognized union voice at work, and the important decision of the FLRA finally sets the process in motion to make that right a reality.”

When the Homeland Security Department was founded under Bush, the TSA was expressly forbidden from unionizing due to security concerns. TSA effectiveness depends on rapid response to emerging threats. After a British bomb plot was broken up in 2006, TSA overhauled its policies in 12 hours to deal with new concerns about liquid explosives. It’s hard to imagine that kind of flexibility under union rules. Then according to DHS’ website, in 2007 the newly Democratic Congress cleared the way for unionization:

“We appreciate the decision by Congress to eliminate the collective bargaining provision for the Transportation Security Administration from the 9/11 bill. This provision would not have advanced our security efforts but we appreciate Congress’ bipartisan recognition of the importance of the transportation security officers’ role.

“TSA will continue to vigorously pursue activities in support of active employee engagement and a participative workforce. All of us agree on the goal of a well-prepared, well-motivated team of officers.”

Once Democrats took control of the executive branch, they immediately began pushing to unionize the TSA, as the taxpayer is merely a host organism for unions that funnel campaign cash to Democrats. Last December, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., somewhat heroically made a stand on this issue and got DHS Secretary Janet “The system worked” Napolitano to admit that she supports unionization despite safety concerns:

Sen. DeMint: My question to you is not whether or not you’ve seen it work at a state or local level, but the whole point of homeland security and particularly TSA is the security of our — of the passengers, and if — in the beginning — and our debate — and every previous administrator at TSA has said that collective bargaining is not consistent with the flexibility and the need to change. You were telling us that you’re going to collectively bargain, even though there’s apparently no reason to protect workers.  There’s not any reason to standardize various work requirements.  Why do we need to bring collective bargaining into this process when we see TSA making the improvements that it needs to make our passengers more secure?

Sec. Napolitano:  Well, thank you, senator, for noting the improvements of our — of TSA and the employee workforce we have there, but again, I go back to the basic point that I do not think security and collective bargaining are mutually exclusive, nor do I think that collective bargaining cannot be accomplished by an agency, such as TSA, should the workers desire to be organized in such a fashion.

Sen. DeMint:  Okay.  Thank you for answering my question.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/oh-sure-the-tsa-is-hated-and-inneffective-now-but-things-will-get-better-when-they-unionize-right-108245164.html#ixzz15S48PKwB

[BAC]

I am so going to be driving a lot more now.

[SwoopSJ]

I am so going to be driving a lot more now.

That's going to be the case with a LOT of people.  I see another bailout coming very soon.

Swoop

[Overload]

So, does this mean the Army can Unionize?

[fightingquaker13]

So, does this mean the Army can Unionize?

That is a large question. How far do we want to privatize the "power of the sword". Private prisons? Private "defense contractors"? Private cops? I call BS on all of it. If we are to grant police or military powers, it should only be to sworn officers. I will not quietly accede to "mall ninjas" weilding police or military powers. Blackwater, Halliburton, the TSA etc. can all KMA. If you've got a badge, I'll listen. Otherwise, you're just a rent-a-cop. I'm serious about this. You should have to take the oath before you get the badge, gun, and the power of arrest. I've been flamed for this before, but I don't care. I don't like mercenaries. If you want me to respect you, take the oath, not just the paycheck. You want to know where your blue helmeted stormtroopers wil come from? Look at Kellogg, Brown and Root. A mercenary force (unionized no less) operating with the full authority of law is no one's friend. Just sayin' (again).
FQ13 who has seen republics fall when they subcontract out the dirty work to those who fight for pay, not country and law. Not opinion, just historical  fact.

[Sponsor]

[alfsauve]

Sen. DeMint: My question to you is not whether or not you’ve seen it work at a state or local level, but the whole point of homeland security and particularly TSA is the security of our — of the passengers, ..........

Actually, the primary point of screening aircraft passengers isn't for their safety, but for the safety of potential ground targets if hi-jackers were to turn the aircraft into a weapon.

Passenger safety is secondary in all of this, only because the passengers would become collateral damage.

[mortdooley]

 Shut down and disband the TSA to reduce government spending is a win-win for the flying public! 

[Hazcat]

Government unions!  Say thank you to JFK for that.  He wrote the executive order.  I would love a president to rescind that order!

[tombogan03884]

You are all just jealous, look at the efficiency and quality that Unions have brought to the auto industry and education.
My god, what racists.  

[Teresa Heilevang]

TSA Unionization: A $30 Million Annual Gift to Union Bosses

When we have an administration more concerned about rewarding its union cronies than the U.S. Constitution (see ObamaCare for reference), giving union bosses access to the wallets of TSOs was only a matter of time. Now, the Transportation Security Agency’s blue shirts who are doing Janet Napolitiano’s bidding frisking, groping, molesting and seemingly sexually assaulting the American public, are about to get license for further abuse—a union card.


    * Number of TSA employees eligible for unionization: 50,000
    * TSA budget for FY 2010: $7.8 billion
    * Estimated Union Dues TSA unionization will provide union bosses at $50 per month: $2,500,000/month or $30,000,000/year.
    * Number of Americans whose Fourth Amendment rights have allegedly been violated: Thousands and still counting.
    * NUMBER OF TERRORISTS CAUGHT BY THE TSA: 0


Entire article here:  http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2010/11/17/tsa-unionization-an-32-million-annual-gift-to-union-bosses/