AFGE to hold open discussion on agency issues
MIAMI, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With more than 11,000 Transportation Security Administration members in 35 Locals nationwide, the American Federation of Government Employees will mark its role as the only real union for TSA workers with a celebration of Transportation Security Officers in Miami on Oct. 23. The event also will serve as an open forum discussion between TSOs and AFGE staff and labor leaders.
AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox and AFGE Local 558 President Dennis Acevedo will host the discussion, and will be joined by South Florida AFL-CIO President Fred Frost and Broward County AFL-CIO President Dan Reynolds. TSOs from Miami, South West Florida, Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale International airports will be in attendance.
Two topics of discussion are sure to include the nomination of Erroll Southers as TSA administrator and the lack of collective bargaining at TSA.
"We look forward to working with Mr. Southers to turn this agency around to one that its employees and the American public can be proud of," Cox said. "The question of bargaining rights at TSA is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' and we are confident that the appointment of a new administrator will help put that matter to bed."
In stark contrast to other employees at the Department of Homeland Security, and most other federal employees, TSOs are denied the basic workplace rights they so rightly deserve. AFGE, with strong backing from the powerful AFL-CIO, repeatedly has urged Congress to support legislation that grants TSOs the same collective bargaining rights and workforce protections as other federal workers.
"AFGE is the only union that can truthfully and proudly say that it has been fighting for collective bargaining for the entire eight years TSA has been in existence," Cox said. "This is a battle not just for bargaining rights, but for the respect and dignity long overdue to TSOs."
WHO:
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 558
AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox
South Florida AFL-CIO President Fred Frost
Broward County AFL-CIO President Dan Reynolds
WHAT:
AFGE will show its solidarity for TSA employees and host a discussion on current TSA issues
WHERE:
Miami International Airport Hotel Conference Room (7th floor, Terminal E)
WHEN:
Friday, Oct. 23, 2009; 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
AFGE is the largest federal employee union representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia, including tens of thousands of DHS employees in Border Patrol, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Protective Service, FEMA, Coast Guard and TSA.
SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees
American Federation of Government Employees
