FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2011
January 28, 2011
Emily Ryan
(202) 355-8154 cell
(202) 355-8154 cell
TSA Union Applauds Ending of Airport Privatization Program
(WASHINGTON) - The American Federation of Government Employees today praised Transportation Security Administration Administrator John Pistole for putting a stop to the privatization of this country's airport screening function, also known as the Screening Partnership Program (SPP).
"The nation is secure in the sense that the safety of our skies will not be left in the hands of the lowest-bidder contractor, as it was before 9/11" AFGE National President John Gage said. "We applaud Administrator Pistole for recognizing the value in a cohesive federalized screening system and workforce."
Airports have had the option of opting out of the federal screener system since TSA was created, but in those nine years only a handful out of 450 have chosen to do so. Today, Pistole issued a memo to the TSA workforce stating "to preserve TSA as an effective, federal counterterrorism security network, SPP will not be expanded beyond the current 16 airports, unless a clear and substantial advantage to do so emerges in the future."
AFGE is the nation's largest federal employee union and the only union to represent TSOs since the agency's inception. With more than 12,000 dues-paying members in 38 AFGE TSA Locals across the country, AFGE is the union of choice for TSOs across the country. For more information, please visit www.tsaunion.com.
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