NTEU DHS Update

April 22, 2008

NTEU Requests Meeting to Discuss Results
Employee Survey Shows Dissatisfaction with TSA Management

NTEU has requested a meeting with TSA Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley following the release of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) survey showing that TSA employees are committed to their agency mission but lack confidence in management policies and practices.

Among the "troubling" responses Kelley highlighted in her letter to Hawley is that only 48.5 percent of employees believe physical conditions allow them to perform their jobs well. She pointed out that TSA employees have informed NTEU of a lack of seemingly basic workplace "quality of life" factors, such as clean bathrooms, available drinking water, adequate breakroom space and parking at airports.

In other findings, 93 percent of TSA employees reported believing their work is important, but only 22.7 percent feel their creativity and innovation are rewarded. Senior leaders received a mere 30.6 percent satisfaction rating when it comes to their policies and practices.

Employees were equally skeptical of TSA’s Performance and Accountability Standards System (PASS). Only 20.9 percent said they think promotions are based on merit and 23.6 percent feel that pay raises depend on how well they perform their jobs.

"This system is broken, and it appears there are no parts of PASS even worth keeping," wrote Kelley. NTEU believes PASS should be eliminated and TSA employees should be moved to the General Schedule.

Kelley concluded the letter with a push for collective bargaining rights, which as agency head, Hawley has the authority to grant to TSA employees.

"With collective bargaining rights, employees become partners in the mission in a way that empowers them," she wrote.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.dhsunion.org/PressRelease/Press
Release.aspx?ID=1256>.

NTEU Sues TSA For Documents on Recertification Testing

NTEU has taken a new step in its ongoing efforts to bring fairness to TSA's annual recertification process for screeners.

The union last week filed a lawsuit over TSA's failure to turn over documents NTEU sought as part of its comprehensive investigation into whether recertification procedures are fair, accurate and free from discrimination. NTEU requested the documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing, but has yet to receive them from TSA. The information NTEU sought addresses various aspects of the recertification process, including:

Management directives concerning proficiency reviews;
Job, occupational and work analyses and validation studies;
Data on the impact of the testing requirement on employees by race, gender, national origin, age group, disability status and job title; and
Information relating to TSA’s use of contractors in developing or administering such tests.

Transportation Security Officers who fail any part of the multi-component recertification test are given one chance to re-take the test. If they fail a second time, they are removed from their jobs.

The tests have been an integral part of TSA’s Performance and Accountability Standards System (PASS). NTEU efforts have recently led to improvements in the PASS system, including the temporary suspension of standard operating procedure tests and image testing while they are revised. While NTEU welcomes these changes as a first step, the union will continue working with employees to document problems with PASS and communicate those issues with members of Congress and TSA management.

For the complete story, click here or visit <www.dhsunion.org/PressRelease/Press
Release.aspx?ID=1257>.

Congressional Delegation Visits NTEU LaGuardia Chapter

NTEU Chapter 311, representing employees at New York's LaGuardia Airport, got a visit from not one, but four members of Congress on Monday. Following the first monthly meeting of Chapter 311, chartered in March, Interim Chapter President Yasir Sheikh and interim steward Natalie Crilley met with New York Democratic Reps. Yvette Clarke, Joseph Crowley, Nita Lowey and Edolphus "Ed" Towns. The NTEU leaders shared with the representatives employee concerns regarding PASS, staffing and the recertification process.

Last summer, Rep. Lowey introduced an NTEU-supported measure (H.R. 3212) that would provide collective bargaining rights to TSA employees. NTEU has led an aggressive campaign to secure TSA collective bargaining rights, arguing that such rights are the ultimate solution to severe problems facing employees.

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The NTEU DHS Update is a periodic electronic newsletter published by the National Treasury Employees Union for DHS employees. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail from your personal, non-governmental e-mail account to subscribe-dhsupdate@lists.nteu.org.