The Federal Labor Relations Authority began mailing new election materials Monday to 43,000 TSA eligible voters. The security screeners will have until June 21 to cast their votes online or by phone in a runoff between the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union. 45% of those eligible to vote participated in the initial six week election that ended April 20. The AFGE received 8,369 votes, the NTEU 8,095 and 3,111 screeners voted against union representation, triggering a runoff between the two unions. Given the length of the voting period, the ease of voting and the energy both unions put into the campaign the low turnout in April suggests little enthusiasm for either union. Both unions are predicted to get even uglier with each other during the runoff campaign. AFGE recently demanded NTEU “cease and desist” through a suit in DC Superior Court based on an NTEU flyer that accuses AFGE of “no representation” for its current members and running in the red. The fight between the two unions goes back to 2007, when NTEU unionized 30,000 Customs and Border Protection employees in the largest federal union election in US history. AFGE immediately challenged the NTEU’s right to represent those employees and lost their complain to the FLRA. Since then, when not trashing the other, both unions have been acting like they already represent TSA workers, setting up shop in large airports, hiring staff for those offices and even collecting dues from TSA employees who have already signed membership cards. AFGE claims more influence over federal decision makers and stronger ties to other unions. NTEU claims more experience in airports and with security personel.
