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Washington D.C.—The leader of the union representing tens of thousands of homeland security employees today urged a number of key members of the House of Representatives to sign on to a letter asking John Pistole, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), to quickly review current policies at his agency and strongly consider granting comprehensive workplace rights to TSA employees.

The letter was sent today by National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley in support of an effort by two leading members of the House seeking quick action on the part of TSA’s Pistole in completing his announced review.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), sponsor of legislation that would provide TSA employees with collective bargaining rights are asking co-sponsors of H.R. 1881 to sign a letter they intend to send to Administrator Pistole next week.

President Kelley asked that all the co-sponsors of the bill sign on to the Thompson-Lowey letter.

As a co-sponsor of this important legislation, President Kelley wrote, “you have demonstrated your support for providing basic civil service and collective bargaining rights to the employees of TSA. We ask you to continue to show your support for TSA employees by signing on to this letter.”

The Thompson-Lowey letter emphasizes the importance to the traveling public of providing TSA employees with standard government rights to help ensure a professional, experienced workforce. “Providing these rights will enhance security by increasing employee retention,” the letter reads.

“NTEU is a strong supporter of H.R. 1881,” said President Kelley, “and we have consistently made the point, as does the congressional letter, that collective bargaining rights in TSA are not a threat to the public and they will measurably improve the ability of TSA to carry out its mission.”

She added: “I am confident that any review of TSA policies, working conditions and mission will result in a decision leading to collective bargaining rights for these deserving employees.”

NTEU is engaged in an aggressive organizing campaign among TSA employees, and represents thousands of them at airports across the country.

In the letter to Pistole, Reps. Lowey and Thompson point to some of the problems undercutting TSA efforts to become the world-class passenger protection agency Congress envisioned for it when TSA was created nearly nine years ago. Those problems include high injury rates, high attrition, low employee morale, and more.

The alternative to providing TSA employees with the kinds of rights encompassed by collective bargaining is to end up “continuing to treat (Transportation Security Officers) like replacement parts,” the Thompson-Lowey says, adding that this would “force TSA to perpetually replace experienced staff, thereby leading to a continuous investment in training (and) resulting in a waste of taxpayer funds.”

President Kelley repeatedly has pointed out, as does the letter to Pistole, that full employment rights, including the right to collectively bargain, are widespread throughout the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which TSA is a unit.

Within DHS, NTEU represents the 24,000-employee Customs and Border Protection (CBP) workforce; and prior to the establishment of CBP, NTEU had represented the legacy Customs Service bargaining unit for some 30 years.

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