FederalDaily - October 10, 2007
AFGE Urges Bargaining Rights for TSOs
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is urging House lawmakers to co-sponsor a measure
that would grant Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) the same workplace unionizing rights enjoyed
by workers throughout the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security. The bill,
H.R. 3212, introduced this summer by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., would repeal a footnote in the Aviation
and Transportation Security Act that allowed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to set
workplace rules for TSOs. The bill would extend bargaining rights to all 45,000 TSOs and require that
TSA treat all of its employees in a uniform and fair manner, AFGE Legislative and Political Director
Beth Moten said in a statement last week. The bill also would have the Government Accountability Office
examine the TSO pay system, which the union claims has unfairly limited pay increases for TSOs. “Denial
of basic worker rights and persistent inadequate staffing” has led to “the worst attrition
rates, among the highest injury rates and the lowest morale in the federal government,” Moten
said. To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=793
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Federal Employees Losing Pace vs. Private Counterparts
The pay gap between federal employees and their private sector counterparts widened in the past year,
with those in the federal workplace making an average of 23 percent less, said a report released this
month by the Federal Salary Council (FSC). The council, an independent group of federal officials,
salary experts and employee representatives, said the pay gap grew six percentage points over the past
year. It has long been acknowledged that federal employees earn less than employees doing similar work
in the private sector, said National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen Kelley, who
is a member of the FSC. But, Kelley said, the new survey performed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
shows the gap is larger than previously thought. The council also endorsed distributing the largest
locality pay raises to employees living in areas with the broadest pay gaps. President Bush last year
changed the locality pay formula so that it takes into consideration the increasing difference between
private and public sector pay in some cities. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1159
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TSA Opens Office to Coordinate International Security
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) last week announced the creation of the Office of
Global Strategies (OGS), which is tasked with improving international transportation security by cooperating
with overseas security partners. The new OGS—to be headed by Bill Gaches, a former intelligence
officer—will oversee the work of the TSA’s Transportation Security Administration Representatives
(TSARs), the agency said in a statement. TSARs serve the agency in foreign countries and work closely
with other governments to improve international transportation security, said Kip Hawley, TSA administrator. “Over
the past two years, we have been able to significantly strengthen our relationships with our international
transportation security partners through increased communications, information sharing and best practices,” he
said. The new office aims to build on those recent successes. To see more, go to: www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2007/press_release_10022007.shtm.
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