THIS JUST IN: AFGE and TSA Agree to Historic Labor Contract
Friday, August 3, 2012
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced yesterday that
it had reached agreement with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
on the first-ever labor contract at the agency. “This collective bargaining
agreement will better the working lives of 45,000 hard-working, dedicated
employees, and that’s a fantastic feeling,” AFGE TSA Council 100 President
Kim Kraynak-Lambert said. “TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) come to
work every day in the face of intense public and Congressional scrutiny and, to
the best of their ability, protect this nation from terrorist attacks. Now we
can look forward to new rights and new working conditions, and a chance to form
a true labor-management partnership.” The agreement must be ratified by the
TSA workforce, a process that will take place in the coming months. “For 10
long years AFGE has fought hard so that Transportation Security Officers would
have collective bargaining rights. We have often looked back and wondered why it
was taking so long,” said AFGE National President John Gage. “Today we begin
to look forward.”