WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal employees' union said Monday it will ask Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to let them represent airport security screeners.þþThe American Federation of Government Employees plans to send a letter to Ridge this week, asking him to overrule a January decision by Transportation Security Administration head James Loy.þþ``When 9-11 happened, we didn't say, 'Wait a minute, our collective bargaining agreement says we have to do this,''' said Bobby L. Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. ``We did what was necessary. This has nothing to do with national security.''þþHarnage said Ridge has the opportunity to prove that the Bush administration was not targeting unions when it successfully argued for removing civil service protections from Homeland Security Department workers. The administration said at the time that it needed flexibility to change assignments to respond to terror threats.þþA phone call to the Homeland Security Department was not immediately returned Monday.þþLoy said in January that the security screeners couldn't form a union to bargain for working conditions because it would prevent the Transportation Security Administration from making sudden changes in shift assignments to respond to emergencies.þþ``Admiral Loy stands behind that decision,'' TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said. ``He is on the record as stating that in order to remain responsible to the ongoing terrorist threat, we need a work force that is flexible and can be deployed immediately without first having to check with a union shop steward.''þþAbout 6,000 of the roughly 50,000 screeners have signed petitions requesting AFGE to represent them, and some have become members of the union, with dues deducted from their pay checks, Harnage said. But the union cannot negotiate for working conditions or salaries.þþScreeners say organizing a union shop would boost security as well protect as their rights. At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, for example, screeners were pressured to quickly clear passengers so planes could leave on time, said one employee, Cynthia Cavalie.þþ``Sometimes it feels more like we're charged with doing customer service work for the airlines than providing security for the traveling public,'' she said.þþJohnson acknowledged some ``isolated incidents,'' and said the agency was working to correct any problems.þþ``Things will settle down this year and we will show our work force that for those who are committed to this kind of work and dedicated to protecting the American public, this will be a model work place,'' he said. ``While the union was having its news conference, our screeners were doing their jobs. They were making sure that travelers got on planes safely.''þþ
Source: NY Times
