WAHINGTON (AP) -- A national union has signed up 13 federal security screeners from airports around the country who have been denied bargaining rights by the government.þþThe screeners joined a national chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees on Monday.þþA national chapter can lobby Congress, file lawsuits and represent workers who have complaints about unfair labor practices, discrimination or safety, but it does not bargain for pay or work conditions.þþTransportation Security Administration chief James Loy in January banned local bargaining units, saying they would be incompatible with the war on terror. Loy said he needed flexibility to make sudden changes in shift assignments in response to terror threats.þþLes Marzke, a screener at Orlando International Airport, said high employee turnover and what he said were unsafe practices -- such as searching baggage for bombs with bare hands -- would continue until TSA workers have a voice.þþMarzke is a chief petty officer in a Naval Reserve unit, half of which has been activated.þþ``I want to exercise my First Amendment rights of free speech and association through union representation,'' he said. As a result, ``I'm regarded as some sort of national security risk.''þþWorkers' problems are dealt with by an ombudsman's office whose toll-free number is widely distributed, he said.þþThe screeners, though, said they don't have any formal way to file complaints about sexual harassment, late paychecks, shift changes without prior notice, long hours and dangerous practices. In some airports, rooms where suitcases are checked for bombs don't have a fire extinguisher, they said.þþCynthia Cavalie, a mother of 3-year-old twins, said she worked 25 consecutive days at John F. Kennedy International Airport last summer without notice.þþCavalie also said she didn't know where to turn after a former screener threatened to beat her up, and her supervisor didn't know how to handle the situation.þþThe government employees union has also filed petitions with the Federal Labor Relations Authority to represent screeners at the bargaining table at nine airports, including LaGuardia International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport. It's also challenging Loy's order in federal court.þþAfter Sept. 11, Congress ordered the government to replace airport screeners who worked for private companies with better-trained and better-paid federal employees to reduce high turnover. The screeners earn between $23,600 and $35,400 a year, with health care, life insurance, paid vacation and sick leave.þþThe TSA says that flying is safer now because of the 4 percent turnover among the 56,000 passenger and baggage screeners, as of two weeks ago.þþ``The entire staff would turn over in less than a year for the private contractors,'' said TSA spokesman Brian Turmail. ``We expected an attrition rate of 30 percent.''þþThe screeners dispute the agency's numbers. Marzke said half his class of 100 screeners has left the Orlando airport. Dennis Cullity said five of the 20 screeners at his checkpoint at Boston's Logan International Airport are gone.þþThe TSA's Turmail said turnover is higher at big airports because urban work forces move around more than in small towns.þþ
Source: NY Times
