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Washington, D.C.—The announcement by the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that TSA employees would get some relief from a discredited merit pay system can be attributed to the actions of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the leader of NTEU said today.

“NTEU has been working with TSA employees to document problems with the merit system and share those issues with members of Congress and TSA management,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “The changes TSA is making will provide partial relief to employees caught in a byzantine system, but ultimately do not solve the problem of an overly-complex structure that lacks fairness and credibility.” NTEU will continue its efforts to move TSA employees onto the General Schedule.

TSA’s Performance and Accountability Standards System (PASS) has been discredited by employees and is a major cause of the low morale and high attrition rates plaguing the agency. NTEU’s work in pointing out the flaws in PASS also interested Congress, which last year, at NTEU’s urging, demanded that TSA provide a full report on the system to lawmakers. That report is expected in May.

“Even after these changes,” Kelley said, “PASS still allows far too much management discretion in making merit pay determinations.” The changes, effective April 1, were announced by TSA Administrator Kip Hawley and include:

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The elimination for 2008 of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) tests. The SOP tests were an ongoing problem because the tests were not aligned with actual job duties and were based on constantly changing procedures. This temporary reprieve is welcome, President Kelley said, but TSA should simply eliminate the tests.

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Changes in image tests: Employees are trained on one image system yet tested on another. This discrepancy, and the inherent problems it causes, was identified for management by NTEU.

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Other changes impact training, ratings, scoring and various administrative matters.

“Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) remain subject to a testing regimen that is arbitrary and capricious and is disconnected from their actual duties,” President Kelley said.

The ultimate solution to severe problems facing TSA employees, Kelley emphasized, is to extend to them collective bargaining rights and to place them on the General Schedule, the pay system covering the bulk of federal employees.

“There simply is no substitute for collective bargaining, which would provide employees with a truly meaningful voice, and a pay system employees can view with clarity and trust,” she said. “PASS is a poor substitute for what really is lacking at TSA—a performance appraisal system that is transparent and credible with all TSA employees, and quality leadership that solicits, values and acts upon the ideas and initiative of frontline workers.”

Among the efforts that led to the current PASS improvement, Kelley credited NTEU’s successful organizing program for TSA employees—the union has chartered chapters at three major U.S. airports thus far—as well its representation victories for members of those chapters, and visits with federal elected officials. “All of these played vital roles in shining a light on PASS,” she said.

One of those events was the visit of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) with a large number of TSA employees at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in February. NTEU chartered its TSA chapter there last December.

In organizing TSA employees, NTEU has advanced a five-point plan, including elimination of PASS. Since NTEU’s organizing efforts began, TSA has moved on three of the five NTEU points—PASS, improved whistleblower protections and revisions to the certification process.

“TSA employees are well aware that NTEU’s presence and efforts are driving the improvements in their work lives,” President Kelley said.

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