AWF Supports Wicker Amendment
The Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), an organization established in 2003 to combat anti-worker legislation and promote free and open labor markets, endorses Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R-Miss.) proposed amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill. If passed, this legislation would prohibit TSA employees from unionizing with full collective bargaining rights.
Since it was outlined by the Under Secretary of Transportation Security in 2003, federal policy has held that:
“Individuals carrying out the security screening function under section 44901 of Title 49, United States Code, in light of their critical national security responsibilities, shall not, as a term or condition of their employment, be entitled to engage in collective bargaining or be represented for the purpose of engaging in such bargaining by any representative or organization.”
On February 4th, 2011, this policy was reversed by the Obama administration, putting the safety of countless Americans in the hands of union bosses. In response, Sen. Wicker has offered an amendment to S.233, which would:
· Exclude TSA personnel from forming a union with collective bargaining rights, while not affecting TSA workers in a union without collective bargaining rights.
· Increase pre-existing internal protections for TSA employees, obviating the need for collective bargaining.
· Apply the same policy to the TSA as the federal government does to other vital groups such as the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service. When the nation’s safety depends upon the TSA, they should be held to the same standard as their fellow protectors.
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