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Washington—The leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today called on the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make good on his promise to use his authority to promptly grant full whistleblower rights to TSA employees.

At the same time, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the union will continue to press for congressional approval of House-passed legislation, H.R. 985, which would provide such rights by statute. This measure, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was approved on March 14.

“We’re going to continue seeking legislation on this issue,” Kelley said, “rather than simply leave the extension of this much-needed right for TSA employees to the discretion of the head of this agency.”

TSA airport screeners now have limited whistleblower protections; since its creation, TSA management officials have not been willing to use their discretion to expand TSA employee rights to match those available to other federal workers—nor to grant its workforce collective bargaining rights.

TSA administrator Kip Hawley told a congressional hearing on Wednesday he believes it is “a good idea” for screeners to have expanded whistleblower rights that provide protection from retaliation for disclosing problems within the agency; he told a committee member he would act by the end of this year.

“Clearly, this would be a step forward for TSA employees—albeit, a long-delayed one,” Kelley said, “but it is just one step in a process TSA needs to undertake to cut the dangerously-high turnover rate within the ranks of airport passenger screeners and make TSA a workplace where people want to be and to remain.”

Chief among those further steps, she said, is the grant of collective bargaining rights—authority given to the administrator when the agency was created.

“The morale problems at TSA are well-documented,” Kelley said, “including the failure of management at every level to treat people with respect, to listen to their ideas on how to get the work done more effectively, and to provide them with an avenue for addressing workplace issues in meaningful ways.”

Given the high attrition and varied issues impacting TSA employees, she said, “it is sad that managers at this agency, including at the highest levels, have thus far chosen to reject collective bargaining—a proven system for working with employees and their representative to better serve the public.”

NTEU is strongly supporting H.R. 3212, introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), that would provide TSA employees with collective bargaining rights.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including the entire 21,000-employee Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, which, like TSA, is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security. The union also represents hundreds of TSA employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport.