President Obama recently nominated retired Maj. Gen. Robert Harding to head TSA. Gage will address his support for Gen. Harding, and AFGE’s fight to secure collective bargaining rights at the agency. Questions regarding the impact of collective bargaining rights on national security could play a role in Gen. Harding’s confirmation process, to which Gage says, “The biggest threat to national security is not having an administrator at TSA.” Gage also will update listeners on the status of AFGE’s petition to the Federal Labor Relations Authority for exclusive union representation at TSA.

AFGE National Vice Presidents Dwight Bowman and Dorothy James then will discuss AFGE’s progress in recent years and what the union must do to keep what it has earned. Bowman and James also will touch on issues in the D.C. government and the end of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

AFGE Marine Corps Council 240 President Brian Leonard will talk about life after NSPS, and why it’s important for management to work with employees to address workplace issues.

Lastly, Department of Defense Local 2142 President Joe Gonzales will highlight his efforts to ensure workplace safety, pay raises, and opportunities for veterans returning home from war.

“Inside Government” is hosted by AFGE Assistant General Counsel J. Ward Morrow. Programs are archived on the Federal News Radio Web site and can be heard on demand at www.federalnewsradio.com or www.afge.org/insidegovernment. Please note there will be a short advertisement prior to the start of the program. The program also is available via iTunes podcast by clicking here. Users must install iTunes on their computers before accessing “Inside Government” via podcast.

Listeners also can follow the program on Facebook (AFGE Inside Government) and Twitter (@afgeradioshow).

For instructions on how to listen to “Inside Government,” click here.

For more information, please visit www.afge.org/insidegovernment or www.federalnewsradio.com.

“Inside Government” is hosted by AFGE Assistant General Counsel J. Ward Morrow. Programs are archived on the Federal News Radio Web site and can be heard on demand at www.federalnewsradio.com or www.afge.org/insidegovernment. Please note there will be a short advertisement prior to the start of the program. The program also is available via iTunes podcast by clicking here. Users must install iTunes on their computers before accessing “Inside Government” via podcast.

Listeners also can follow the program on Facebook (AFGE Inside Government) and Twitter (@afgeradioshow).

For instructions on how to listen to “Inside Government,” click here.

For more information, please visit www.afge.org/insidegovernment or www.federalnewsradio.com.

On March 3, thousands of employees from DoT returned to work after being on non-paid furlough for two days because an interim extension of the Highway Trust Fund was blocked while Congress debated a longer extension.

Upon learning of the furlough of thousands of its members, AFGE flew into action by aggressively lobbying members of Congress to ensure that the affected workers would not “lose one minute of pay or suffer any consequences in what amounted to an outrageous, partisan action taken by one senator,” said Beth Moten, AFGE legislative director.

“Without this legislation and without the tireless work of our DoT local president Antonyio Johnson, our 2,000 DoT members would otherwise not be paid for the time they were furloughed when the highway trust fund was not reauthorized in a timely fashion. This bill will ensure that the paychecks of the affected employees are not reduced. We urge the U.S. Senate to quickly follow the House and get this bill passed,” said Moten.

“We’ve been working closely with Representatives Thompson, Lee and Lowey to get H.R.1881 passed. Since 2006, we have fought side-by-side with them for workplace rights and for fair pay for Transportation Security Officers across the country and their cooperation and work with us have been unwavering. They recognize that the nation’s TSOs have gone far too long without a true voice at work,” said John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Representative Lowey, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Thompson and Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee Chair Lee introduced the TSA Workforce Enhancement Act, legislation that would repeal the Aviation and Transportation Security Administration (ATSA) footnote that gives TSA the ability to prevent third-party oversight of decisions affecting employees, and goes on to grant TSOs the same collective bargaining rights and workplace protections as other federal workers – including those in DHS.

During AFGE’s recent legislative conference, Rep. Lowey addressed a rally in front of AFL-CIO headquarters where hundreds of supporters had gathered to call for full collective bargaining rights at the agency. Lowey told the cheering crowd that she would continue to work for the passage of the bargaining rights legislation and thanked TSOs for their service to our nation’s flying public.

AFGE, with strong backing from the AFL-CIO, has repeatedly urged Congress to pass H.R. 1881. “This legislation will not only give TSOs the right to bargain collectively,” said Gage. “It will move TSOs under the General Schedule system under which most federal employees are covered.”

AFGE has represented the TSA workforce since the agency was created in 2001. The union currently has approximately 12,000 dues-paying TSA members in 37 Locals nationwide.

The FLRA on March 2 moved forward with AFGE’s petition for an election at TSA by directing the agency to provide the FLRA with documents needed to make a decision on whether a union election should be held.

In a letter to TSA Assistant Administrator for Human Capital Richard Whitford, FLRA Acting Regional Director Peter Sutton asked Whitford to provide a list of employees described in AFGE’s petition, which are non-supervisory Transportation Security Officers in pay bands D, E, F, and G. Sutton also asked for a list of employees who won’t be part of the bargaining unit, including supervisors and TSA headquarters staff. Sutton further asked for TSA’s position on AFGE’s petition, which seeks to determine whether TSOs wish to be represented by a union for the purpose of collective bargaining.

TSA has until March 12 to turn in the information. The agency also has been asked to put up a notice of petition at airports across the country to notify employees about the petition.

“The process of determining who TSOs want to bargain their contract is one that the FLRA takes very seriously,” AFGE President John Gage said. “We are confident that an election will take place very soon.”

AFGE on Feb. 22 filed the FLRA petition, stating that “By settling the question of representation first, AFGE will be ready to begin negotiations as soon as the bargaining rights are established.”

“TSOs have been waiting for too long and they need a union that will be innovative in its approach to securing the rights to which they are entitled,” Gage added. “More than 13,000 TSOs in more than 100 airports nationwide already have expressed interest in having AFGE as their union, and we look forward to welcoming the rest of the bargaining unit workforce into our union.”

AFGE’s petition and the FLRA letter to TSA can be found at www.tsaunion.net.

• Harding "has the experience ... to make a real difference," said an administration official
• Harding, who served 33 years in Army, would be the TSA's first African-American administrator
• He once was Defense Department's senior human intelligence officer

“We are thrilled that the administration has moved so quickly. This important homeland security post has been vacant for far too long,” said AFGE National President John Gage upon learning of the selection of Harding. “Mr. Harding has an impressive military record with more than three decades of service in the U.S. Army and has an exceptional background in intelligence matters. From what we can see, his credentials to lead the TSA are sound. We look forward to meeting with him after his confirmation.”

Last month, AFGE filed a representation petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) calling for a union election for TSOs nationwide. The petition, which speaks only to the question concerning representation by a union, is seen as one of two parallel tracks the union has been involved in to win collective bargaining and union representation for the 40,000-person Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

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