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Washington, D.C.—The markup of a key measure today by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that would provide Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees with the same civil service protections as other federal employees was applauded as a good step toward ensuring workplace equality by the leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

The legislation, H.R. 1881, would provide TSA employees with full collective bargaining rights by statute and end the agency’s often-criticized pay system, moving employees onto the General Schedule (GS), which now covers most other federal employees. The measure was first approved by the House Homeland Security Committee in July and now moves to the full House for a vote.

“Providing these rights will lead to a more stable and independent professional TSA workforce, so employees can spend their time securing the safety of our nation’s airports,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

Kelley sent a letter to committee members earlier this week asking them to vote in favor of the bill, pointing out that many federal employees involved in securing our nation have collective bargaining rights, including NTEU-represented employees at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The letter also addressed union concerns about increased costs and potential airport security gaps due to high agency turnover and employee job dissatisfaction.

“H.R. 1881 will address the terrible wrongs that these employees face on a daily basis,” Kelley said. “Passage of this bill will allow TSA to become a world-class airport security agency by retaining experienced employees and reducing costs created by high attrition rates.”

Many of these issues were discussed during a summer meeting with senior TSA leaders, including TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. There, President Kelley and a delegation of NTEU TSA leaders outlined recommendations that would immediately address many serious workplace issues. Those recommendations were captured in a white paper NTEU presented to agency leadership.

In addition to this outreach, NTEU has initiated a grassroots campaign to urge TSA employees across the country to contact their congressional representatives in support of H.R. 1881. The union also continues to pursue collective bargaining rights for TSA employees through administrative action.

Since its inception in 2001, TSA has been plagued by low workforce morale stemming from a workplace environment where employee voices on important issues are not heard, as well as from an unfair and subjective pay system.

“NTEU has established TSA chapters in airports around the country and is representing TSA employees on a variety of workplace issues,” said Kelley. “Giving these employees a voice in their workplace through collective bargaining would resolve many of the morale issues in this agency.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including thousands of TSA employees at airports from Maine to California. The union continues to actively organize at many other airports nationwide.