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Washington, D.C. —While the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) did not prevail in its effort to become the exclusive representative of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, the NTEU president said she is proud of the many advances—including collective bargaining rights—NTEU secured on behalf of this workforce during the course of the campaign.

“Securing a determination from TSA Administrator John S. Pistole granting TSA employees much-needed collective bargaining rights is the single most important workplace development in TSA’s nearly 10-year history, and NTEU played the pivotal role in that accomplishment,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

“Without NTEU’s persistent efforts, including communications with President Obama and key members of Congress on this issue, TSA employees still would not have such rights, which are essential to the workplace improvements needed in their agency,” she said.

Results of the TSA union representation election were announced this morning by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which oversees federal sector labor-management relations and which conducted the nationwide election among TSA Officers by phone and through the Internet. Two unions were on the ballot. Although NTEU will carefully review its options, it is unlikely NTEU will file objections to the conduct of the election, in order to ensure TSA employees get union representation as quickly as possible.

The election was a runoff between the two unions after the first election ended in a dead heat and neither union received the votes needed to be named the winner. In the first election, a third choice offered employees the option of voting for no union.

“While I am disappointed TSA Officers did not choose NTEU,” said President Kelley, “I know they face a number of significant obstacles in securing the kind of workplace and work environment they want and deserve, and I wish them well in reaching those objectives.”

She added that over the past several years, NTEU has played an important role in dealing with day-to-day workplace issues impacting the TSA workforce at airports across the nation and believes the precedents set by NTEU in handling those issues will prove useful for TSA employees.

Kelley emphasized that NTEU will continue its work as the most highly-respected and effective union in the federal workplace.

“There are many pressing issues facing the federal workforce and NTEU will ramp up its efforts to ensure that federal employees and their agencies have the tools and resources they need to fulfill agency missions and provide the services the public depends on,” Kelley said.

“As our fight to ensure dignity and respect for federal employees continues, we have a number of key initiatives we will be unveiling in the weeks ahead,” the NTEU leader stated.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing more than 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.