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Washington, D.C.— Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees at the airport nearest the nation’s capital have joined forces with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)—the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers. The establishment of a NTEU chapter at Washington National Airport (DCA) brings effective workplace representation to hundreds of local frontline homeland security employees.

NTEU already represents tens of thousands of federal employees in the Washington, D.C., region with more than 40 chapters at such agencies as Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Chapter 330 (TSA Washington National) will join their ranks.

“NTEU has been responding to the concerns of TSA employees across the country who are dedicated to carrying out the security mission of their agency but who have no voice in their workplace,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “NTEU already represents thousands of TSA employees at airports nationwide and is actively working to improve their workplace. Now, TSA employees here in Washington will begin to see similar improvements.”

A leading factor in the low morale that has plagued TSA since its creation in 2001 is the lack of collective bargaining rights for its employees. “Getting collective bargaining will allow employees to have a say in their working conditions and will help make TSA the most effective airport security agency in the world,” President Kelley said.

NTEU has taken its concerns about the rights of the TSA workforce to Congress, where it helped draft the language of H.R. 1881, a measure now pending in the House that would provide TSA employees with full collective bargaining rights and move them onto the pay system that covers the majority of federal employees.

NTEU also anticipates the confirmation of Erroll G. Southers to be the next TSA Administrator. Earlier this month, President Kelley urged members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to approve Southers’ nomination and send his name to the Senate floor for a full vote. Once confirmed, President Kelley expects to have a productive working relationship with Southers on a variety of TSA issues—most importantly, NTEU’s call to grant TSA employees collective bargaining rights.

“Once Southers has the opportunity to meet with NTEU and other stakeholders on the issue of collective bargaining rights, he will realize that providing these rights to employees is in the best interests of the agency, its employees and its mission,” President Kelley said.

The current TSA pay system is a second factor affecting the agency’s low morale, President Kelley said, as employees believe the agency’s current pay system is highly subjective to the whims of management.

Not only is fair pay and civil service protections for TSA employees priority issues for NTEU, they also are key components of NTEU’s comprehensive five-point plan for the TSA workforce—a concrete set of goals that will address concerns of employees nationwide. The plan also calls for full whistleblower protections by statute; a fair shift-scheduling system and adequate staffing; and revisions to the current TSA training and recertification system.

Chapter 330 joins a growing NTEU network of 22 TSA chapters at more than three dozen airports from Maine to California, including new chapters in Connecticut and Louisiana.

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

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments and is aggressively organizing thousands of TSA employees at airports nationwide. TSA is a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, where NTEU already is the exclusive representative for the 24,000-member U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bargaining unit.