Ready for Unionized Airport Security? - As payback for union support, Obama adm. greases the wheels for largest federal organizing effort in history.
From The Wall Street Journal:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made some progress this week in rescuing his state from the public-sector unions holding it hostage. Ever wonder how Wisconsin got into trouble in the first place? Washington is providing an illuminating case study.
Even as state battles rage, the Obama administration has been facilitating the largest federal union organizing effort in history. Tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners are now casting votes to choose a union to collectively bargain for cushier personnel practices on their behalf.
On Sept. 11, 2001, more than 3,000 Americans died after terrorists turned airplanes into missiles. It was a colossal security failure. Congress responded by creating the TSA. The merits of federalizing airport screening were always questionable, though at least the public priority was clear.
Back then, a bipartisan majority of Congress agreed that a crack airport security service was incompatible with rigid unionization rules. Yet by 2008, Democratic presidential candidates were betting that security worries had receded enough that they could again pander for union votes. Candidate Barack Obama sent a letter to American Federation of Government Employees boss John Gage, vowing that his "priority" was giving Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) "collective bargaining rights and workplace protections."
That's been the administration's "priority," even as the public grows more disillusioned with a failing agency. The White House was forced to withdraw its first two picks for TSA administrator—Earl Southers and Robert Harding—after complaints that they'd been chosen more for their willingness to play union ball than for security expertise. John Pistole, who got the job in mid-2010, has earned praise even from Republicans—although everyone understood the administration expected him to also concede on TSA bargaining.
And, surprise, after a pro-forma "assessment" of the implications, Mr. Pistole last month gave the green light for this week's vote.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made some progress this week in rescuing his state from the public-sector unions holding it hostage. Ever wonder how Wisconsin got into trouble in the first place? Washington is providing an illuminating case study.
Even as state battles rage, the Obama administration has been facilitating the largest federal union organizing effort in history. Tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners are now casting votes to choose a union to collectively bargain for cushier personnel practices on their behalf.
On Sept. 11, 2001, more than 3,000 Americans died after terrorists turned airplanes into missiles. It was a colossal security failure. Congress responded by creating the TSA. The merits of federalizing airport screening were always questionable, though at least the public priority was clear.
Back then, a bipartisan majority of Congress agreed that a crack airport security service was incompatible with rigid unionization rules. Yet by 2008, Democratic presidential candidates were betting that security worries had receded enough that they could again pander for union votes. Candidate Barack Obama sent a letter to American Federation of Government Employees boss John Gage, vowing that his "priority" was giving Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) "collective bargaining rights and workplace protections."
That's been the administration's "priority," even as the public grows more disillusioned with a failing agency. The White House was forced to withdraw its first two picks for TSA administrator—Earl Southers and Robert Harding—after complaints that they'd been chosen more for their willingness to play union ball than for security expertise. John Pistole, who got the job in mid-2010, has earned praise even from Republicans—although everyone understood the administration expected him to also concede on TSA bargaining.
And, surprise, after a pro-forma "assessment" of the implications, Mr. Pistole last month gave the green light for this week's vote.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 6:38 AM
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