FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jenifer McCormick
202-628-9262
JeniferM@ttd.org
Washington, D.C. – Aviation employees and their unions learned today that they were
skipped over by the Transportation Security Administration, which is partnering with various segments of the aviation industry, in development of a new 6-point plan to review the effectiveness of employee screening systems at airports.
“The fact that the TSA doesn’t see aviation employees and their unions as partners in this important discussion is bizarre and ignores the vital role that aviation labor will play in implementing any new employee screening regime,” said Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO. “We don’t know if this plan is good, bad or ugly, because we were never consulted about it and apparently we won’t even be at the table.”
“The airport and aviation business lobby groups hardly represent the diverse interests of this industry,” Wytkind said. “It is irrational that the TSA places such low value on the input of aviation employees.”
Aviation unions have been leaders in calling for improved aviation security since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including increased federal resources to secure the system, and new policy measures to address a number of security gaps. TTD and its member aviation unions have been at the forefront in calling for a sensible universal access system – deploying modern technologies and procedures – for processing rushed aviation workers through the security screening systems at airports.
“TSA apparently needs a reminder that front-line aviation employees and their unions are a vital resource in addressing the questions surrounding security at our airports including the screening of aviation workers,” Wytkind said.
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TTD represents 32 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org.
TSA Excludes Aviation Labor in Partnership to Improve Employee Screening at Airports