WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 — The leader of the Transportation Security Administration took action today to block an effort to unionize 56,000 federal screeners at airports, saying collective bargaining for them was ÿnot compatibleÿ with the fight against terrorism.þþThe official, Adm. James Loy, the under secretary of transportation for security, said he was authorized by Congress to thwart unionizing activity in the interest of national security. ÿFighting terrorism demands a flexible work force that can rapidly respond to threats,ÿ said Admiral Loy, who cited his legal authority under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, approved within two months of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.þþÿThat can mean changes in work assignments and other conditions of employment that are not compatible with the duty to bargain with labor unions,ÿ he said.þþThe admiral's order appeared to be an important early test of the Bush administration's demand that federal employees working in the nascent Department of Homeland Security be denied certain job protections in the interest of government flexibility.þþIt came as workers at New York's La Guardia Airport, Baltimore- Washington International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and Midway Airport in Chicago petitioned the Federal Labor Relations Authority to open the way for the formation of local union chapters of the American Federation of Government Employees to represent them.þþBobby L. Harnage Sr., the union's national president, said the administration was merely imposing its anti-union agenda.þþÿAdmiral Loy surely knows that the administration already has the flexibility to suspend collective bargaining during a true national emergency,ÿ Mr. Harnage said. ÿThe Bush administration has shown once again that the war it cares about most is the one it is waging against the U.S. government work force.ÿþþIn the last year, Admiral Loy's new agency has hired, trained and deployed more than 60,000 airport screeners of baggage and people. Over the objections of the administration, Congress required that the workers be federal employees based on the expectation that they would be more conscientious.þþUnion officials said some workers were being asked to work extended shifts and have had their paychecks delayed by as long as a month.þþTom Daschle, the Senate minority leader, called the administration's order ÿshameful but not surprising.ÿþþÿTo say that the workers tasked with our safety don't have the right to bargain collectively on issues like their own safety has nothing to do with America's security and everything to do with this administration's politics,ÿ Mr. Daschle said. þþþ
Source: NY Times
