TSA Chief Opens the Door for Unions
Last November The National Labor Relations Board , lead by Obama appointee Hilda Solis caved in to Union pressure that Transportation Security Officers hold a vote on Unionization for purposes other than collective bargaining. After supposed careful consideration, another Obama appointee , TSA Chief Mr. Pistole recently expanded this to include previously barred collective bargaining for TSO’s. Here is a summary paragraph from the TSA* home page:
“Last November, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) issued a decision that called for an election among TSOs to determine whether a majority of officers wished to have exclusive union representation for purposes other than collective bargaining. Administrator Pistole’s Determination allows this election to move forward and lays out specific terms for limited, clearly-defined collective bargaining within a framework consistent with TSA’s security mission, should TSOs elect a union.”
Here we have the pattern of one Obama appointee unlocking the door for Union cronies at the TSA, and then the next appointee taking it a step further towards total Union control. This is what we are referring to when we say the government gets their foot in the door with seemingly harmless actions, then it leads to huge bureaucracies with bloated budgets and Union corruption for vote buying schemes. Once the Unions get into power, labor prices skyrocket as in the examples of Union penions bankrupting cities and states across the nation we see today. I also see Mr. Pistole finishing his above statement with “should TSO’s elect a Union.” Will Mr. Pistole inform said TSO’s about the dangers of climbing into bed with a Union, putting in 20 – 30 years of hard work only to be told there is no money to pay your pension? That is happening today folks. Hopefully TSO -TSA workers will take this into consideration before voting on this critical action.
For those readers out there that think this looks good on paper, I have to ask if you are aware that two Unions are fighting over these workers? In the picture below, we can see the AFGE, AFL-CIO advertising for their Union by providing signs to “help” TSO’s already.
How about that? Isn’t that nice of them? Do you think that sign is a free gift? I wonder how many of them they went to the expense of making and installing them for, there are across the country? Considering that the AFGE represents Government Employees, and it is their dues paying for these signs, and it is the taxpayer who pays said government employees salaries, then it is you the taxpayer who paid for those helpful signs. As for the “projected cost” to the taxpayer of unionizing the TSO’s, I’ll let Mr. Pistole tell you again from the TSA website:*
“How much will unionization cost TSA?
There will be no cost to TSA unless and until a union is certified by the FLRA as the winner of the election. If exclusive union representation is voted for by a majority of TSOs, our preliminary estimates are that implementation would cost between $5-8 million annually, which amounts to approximately one-quarter of one percent of TSA’s budget for security officer salaries.”
Only 5 – 8 million a year, if you believe government “projected” figures. When I mentioned two Unions fighting for TSA workers membership, Mr. Pistole further enlightens us once again:
“What are the unions participating in the election?
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) are the two unions who currently have sufficient interest among the TSA workforce to participate in the election. The ballot will have three options: AFGE, NTEU, No Union. If no option receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be conducted between the two choices receiving the most and second most number of votes.”
When discussing the Unionization of the TSA workforce here, we have to include another agenda the Liberal Democrats have been trying to shove into play for the last two years: Card Check leglislation. This is another mis-named piece of stealth leglislation masquerading as The Employee Fair Choice Act. Ill let the U. S. Chamber of Commerce** explain this Union payback agenda :
“The “Employee Free Choice Act”—better known as the Card Check bill—is a proposed law that would change how unions are allowed to organize workers in the United States. Big labor unions like the AFL-CIO, SEIU, and the Change to Win Coalition spent heavily during the 2009 election, and are pushing Congress to approve this law. Union membership has been declining—currently about 7.5 percent in the private sector—and they hope this law will change the rules and reverse that trend.”
With many States now recognizing the implications of big Union demands and unfunded pension plans bankrupting budgets across the nation, why would anyone in their right mind want to continue with this madness ? Here we now have the invasion of thousands of new TSA workers adding to our budget woes and we want to allow them to Unionize another 45,000 TSA workers ? America voted for smaller, more accountable government in 2010. That simply will not be achieved with Obama appointees advancing the Union payback/election buying schemes of today.
* https://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/2011/11_0204_fact_sheet_on_collective_bargaining.shtm
**https://www.uschamber.com/issues/labor/employee-free-choice-act-card-check-bill