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Washington, D.C. — The nation’s largest independent union of federal employees today stepped up its ongoing campaign to secure legislative approval for much-needed collective bargaining rights for employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

In a letter to every member of the House of Representatives, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) called for their co-sponsorship and support for H.R. 3212, a measure introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) to provide TSA employees with such rights.

NTEU, which already represents some 21,000 employees of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is the representative of hundreds of TSA employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“Despite the fact that nearly all of the other bureaus that make up the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have collective bargaining rights,” President Kelley wrote to House members, “TSA denied those rights to airport screeners.” TSA is a unit of DHS, as is CBP.

“TSA has been plagued by personnel problems rarely seen in any federal agency,” Kelley wrote. “Maintaining a stable, qualified and trained workforce was the primary goal of federalizing the transportation screener position,” she added, “yet voluntary attrition rates are the highest in the federal government.”

The NTEU leader noted pointedly that administration concerns that collective bargaining rights would limit management flexibility at TSA “have been totally discredited by the record of the organized workforce at other DHS bureaus.”

She emphasized that NTEU-represented CBP employees are not only the first line of defense at the nation’s borders, but “have had an exemplary record in performing layered enforcement activities to prevent the entry of terrorists and instruments of terror.”

In support of the Lowey bill, President Kelley argued that collective bargaining rights have not hindered in any way the government’s emergency response capability. On the contrary, she wrote, “rather than inhibit management, collective bargaining agreements set procedures for work assignments and duties that lead to stability in the workplace.”

The result, she said, is to “foster a trained and committed workforce” to enhance the nation’s protection. “Achieving equity, security and stability of the TSA workforce is paramount to TSA’s future.”

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.