Legal Aid Foundation Submits Brief Opposing Union Boss Monopoly Bargaining Power over TSA Employees

Union petitions at Federal Labor Relations Authority would erode workers’ rights, hamstring national security

Washington, DC (June 28, 2010) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees across the country, has submitted an amicus curiae brief urging the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to oppose two petitions that could force Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees into union ranks. If granted, the petitions would allow monopoly bargaining privileges for union officials seeking to organize TSA employees.

In late May, a FLRA Regional Director ruled that American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and National Treasury Employees (NTE) union operatives could not organize TSA workers, but union lawyers appealed the decision to the FLRA proper. According to Foundation attorneys, the unions’ arguments would leave workers vulnerable to aggressive union organizers and possibly compromise national security.

The Foundation’s brief argues that the FLRA has no authority to dictate the TSA’s labor relations, noting that the Administrator of the TSA has jurisdiction over TSA employees and previously refused to grant union organizers monopoly bargaining privileges.

Foundation attorneys also argue that subjecting TSA workers to union monopoly bargaining could compromise national security by risking union-instigated strikes and undermining security procedures with time-consuming union work rules. The TSA’s ability to tailor its response to rapidly-emerging threats could suffer if administrative flexibility is hamstrung by bloated union bureaucracies.

Moreover, the Foundation’s brief notes that extending monopoly bargaining privileges to union organizers constitutes a serious breach of TSA employees’ rights. Under monopoly bargaining, if union organizers acquire or coerce support from a bare majority of TSA employees, they can then dictate terms and conditions of employment to all workers in a given bargaining unit, including those who oppose unionization.

“Despite obvious risks to both national security and workers’ rights, Big Labor is intent on forcibly organizing TSA employees,” said Patrick Semmens, Director of Legal Information at the National Right to Work Foundation. “We hope the FLRA will have the sense to reject this attempt to further extend Big Labor’s monopoly bargaining privileges.”