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For Immediate Release

Contact: Dina Long

February 27, 2008

(202) 572-5500 ext. 7058

Washington, D.C.— A new agreement allowing Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to appeal whistleblower retaliation complaints to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) does not go nearly far enough, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees said today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the union will continue to press for congressional approval of H.R. 985, legislation which would provide TSA employees whistleblower rights by statute. This measure, which is essential to protect the public interest in aviation security was introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and was approved by the House last spring.

“Rather than leave the extension of this much-needed right for TSOs to the agency’s discretion, we are going to continue seeking legislation on this issue,” President Kelley said, adding that since the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) inception in 2001, management has steadfastly refused to expand employee whistleblower rights. “TSA’s token effort to increase worker protections is not good enough,” she said.

Significantly, many details of the agreement are not yet known, including whether TSA will be bound by MSPB decisions, whether an evidentiary hearing is guaranteed to employees, and whether employees will enjoy the same procedural rights that are provided under the MSPB’s governing regulations.

Additionally, there appears to be no enforcement mechanism for favorable decisions and no route of appeal for employees who receive an unfavorable decision from the MSPB. Under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), federal employees may appeal MSPB decisions to federal appeals court but today’s agreement does not confer full WPA rights to TSOs.

“Providing full whistleblower rights to the more than 40,000 airport screeners nationwide would be one step in a long process that TSA needs to undertake to reduce high turnover rates and boost morale in the workforce,” Kelley said. Another significant step is to also grant employees full collective bargaining rights.

Clearly there are significant employment issues at this agency and TSOs routinely feel their second-class status as federal employees who have only limited rights. Given the agency’s attrition and morale problems, Kelley said, “I continue to be disappointed that agency management has also chosen to reject collective bargaining at every opportunity—despite evidence that proves its worth in the federal workplace.”

NTEU is strongly supporting H.R. 3212, introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), which would grant TSA employees collective bargaining rights.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including more than 2,000 TSA employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.