Backscatter

[theoddz]

Originally Posted by Nat

Okay, I'm going to put something in here, related to the points that are brought out in this video.

As many of you may or may not know, I am a Union Rep for my local AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO). This labor union represents about 600,000 employees of the United States federal government, including the TSA. There's one big problem, however, and everyone on the inside of the AFGE knows this. The TSA is the most sloppily run, workplace-abusive agency in the federal gov't.

It seems that when the Dept. of Homeland Security was created in the post 9/11 days by the Bush administration (which was VERY unfriendly towards unions, and particularly the AFGE), that administration started, right off, with trying to exclude this group of federal employees from having any bargaining rights whatsoever. They put many regulations for that agency in place that subjected them to workplace abuses with no recourse, all in the name of "national security".

What has resulted is, in the wake of this action, a federal agency where the work force is, by and large, affected with low morale, lack of training, and a vindictive management style that systemically fails to provide good training and effective leadership. That's why this particular federal agency has made such a mess of things like this, I feel.

The union does so much more than just represent individual employees who have workplace problems/issues with their supervisors. We have our noses in almost every issue that concerns the training, safety and effectiveness of the federal work place. We make sure that people are given adequate training and the tools to do their jobs and do them well. We ensure that management doesn't cut corners when it comes to providing the best and most cost effective service to the American citizen and taxpayer through our support of the employee. We give employees the voice they need in making the government work. The government and it's agencies are, after all, people who serve people. Nothing more, nothing less.

What this all comes down to, really, is a serious lack of training and support in the TSA. The TSA has some critical problems. The problems you're reading about in this thread are really just the tip of the iceberg and what eventually rolls down on the "consumer" from a hierarchy of misuse and abuse. Right now, the AFGE is working, on many fronts, towards bringing the TSA under our umbrella so we can help to improve the way the American citizen is served by this agency. Every week, I get email updates on our progress, and it is hopeful. Just like the Obama Administration, the AFGE is having to try to repair the 8 years of Bush fuckery, and it takes time.

~Theo~