FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2007
December 21, 2007
Dionne O’Neal
(202) 639-6491
(202) 639-6491
TSA Union Charters New Locals in Atlanta, Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico
(WASHINGTON)—The American Federation of Governments Employees (AFGE), the only union to represent and stand behind Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) since the agency’s inception, recently chartered four new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Locals in Atlanta, Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico.
TSOs have been organized into the following AFGE Locals:
Local 555 will represent TSOs at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Local 1039 will represent TSOs within the city of Houston, TX Local 556 will represent TSOs in the state of Florida Local 557 will represent TSOs in Puerto Rico
“The chartering of these Locals represents an evolution in our 5-year organizing campaign from one which has focused almost exclusively on acquiring bargaining rights, to one that will take on workplace issues in a more localized manner,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “TSO's represented by AFGE have learned that only by standing up for their rights can those rights be secured and protected. These new TSA Locals are just the first of many others at airports throughout the country that will stand up over the course of the next few months.”
Since the beginning, AFGE has worked aggressively with Congress in pursuit of agency reforms and legislation that would help to protect employee’s workplace rights. The union also has taken on TSA in the courts, before the International Labor Organization and with the Federal Labor Relations Authority over issues including collective bargaining rights, fair personnel systems, performance-based pay and promotion policies, and scheduling.
“While we will continue to fight for whistleblower protection and full collective bargaining rights for TSOs, we will do so while simultaneously building union structures at key airports as a way of giving these workers a powerful voice at the jobsite,” Gage added.
TSOs have been organized into the following AFGE Locals:
Local 555 will represent TSOs at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Local 1039 will represent TSOs within the city of Houston, TX Local 556 will represent TSOs in the state of Florida Local 557 will represent TSOs in Puerto Rico
“The chartering of these Locals represents an evolution in our 5-year organizing campaign from one which has focused almost exclusively on acquiring bargaining rights, to one that will take on workplace issues in a more localized manner,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “TSO's represented by AFGE have learned that only by standing up for their rights can those rights be secured and protected. These new TSA Locals are just the first of many others at airports throughout the country that will stand up over the course of the next few months.”
Since the beginning, AFGE has worked aggressively with Congress in pursuit of agency reforms and legislation that would help to protect employee’s workplace rights. The union also has taken on TSA in the courts, before the International Labor Organization and with the Federal Labor Relations Authority over issues including collective bargaining rights, fair personnel systems, performance-based pay and promotion policies, and scheduling.
“While we will continue to fight for whistleblower protection and full collective bargaining rights for TSOs, we will do so while simultaneously building union structures at key airports as a way of giving these workers a powerful voice at the jobsite,” Gage added.
###
For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.
Follow us on:
