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Washington, D.C.—Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the country’s largest and busiest airports, today joined thousands of other TSA workers nationwide currently benefiting from strong workplace representation by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) with the chartering of the union’s second TSA Texas chapter.

Since Nov. 4, NTEU has established five new chapters at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, Miami International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, El Paso International Airport and the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

“NTEU is committed to representing TSA employees who work diligently every day to ensure the safety of the traveling public,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “With the establishment of these local chapters, frontline Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) will now have on-site workplace representation and a powerful national organization standing behind them.”

All NTEU TSA chapters operate with local staff attorneys and labor relations experts to represent TSA employees at every chapter on critical workplace issues, including promotions, disciplinary actions, shift bidding, overtime, performance appraisals, leave issues and work schedules and hours, as well as alternative work schedules.

In recent weeks, NTEU took its advocacy for TSA employees to the incoming administration transition team. In a transition document, NTEU offered recommendations for both administrative and legislative actions that would stem the dangerously-high turnover and low morale in TSA by providing agency employees with collective bargaining rights and moving them to the same pay system—the General Schedule (GS)—most other federal employees are covered under.

Last week, that call took on a more urgent tone when President Kelley expressed serious concern about the continued use of TSA’s discredited merit pay Performance Accountability and Standards System (PASS) after an internal report showed miniscule merit pay increases of 2 percent or less for more than three-quarters of the agency’s frontline workforce in 2008.

“The present personnel system for TSA workers has none of the merit system safeguards usually afforded federal employees,” said Kelley. “The system fails to provide collective bargaining rights, and it has no objective rules for pay increases and promotions.”

The transition document accompanies the union’s aggressive perusal of a five-point representation plan for TSA employees that calls for:

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Collective bargaining rights for TSA employees;

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The elimination of TSA’s unfair PASS;

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A fair shift-scheduling system and adequate staffing;

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Revisions to the current TSA training and recertification system; and

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Whistleblower protections for TSA employees.

The five recently-chartered chapters join those at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia International Airport in New York and at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for a total of eight NTEU chapters.

The largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including nearly 2,000 in TSA.