AFGE looks again to unionize airport security screeners
Federal law prohibits labor organizing in that industry, but a recent UN ruling and an incoming Democratic majority gives hope to the American Federation of Government Employees
It may be too early to start handing out music scores for The Internationale, but
the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has announced that it intends to organize airport security screeners. In a non-binding opinion, the United Nations International Labor Organization ruled that the American rule barring the country’s 45,000 screeners from collective bargaining “may impede unduly upon the rights of these federal employees.” In 2003 AFGE lost a lawsuit that attempted to overturn the law, and a proposed amendment on the issue was recently defeated in the House Homeland Security Committee, but the UN ruling — not to mention the incoming Democratic majority —has reenergized the organization. “Now we have the rationale that this is not just a union whining. This is a formal finding of a violation,” said AFGE attorney Mark Roth.
-read more in this Port Security News report
