Improving America's Security Act Of 2007

IMPROVING AMERICA'S SECURITY ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - March 06, 2007)

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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the men and women who serve as transportation security officers, TSOs, are on the front lines of our effort to keep America safe. They do backbreaking, difficult work, day and night, to preserve our national security. Yet for years they have been treated as second-class citizens.

These officers do not have the same rights and protections enjoyed by most Federal employees, including other employees at the Department of Homeland Security. They don't have a voice at work. They don't have protections if they speak out about safety conditions or security issues. And they have no right to appeal if they are subject to discrimination or unfair treatment.

Because they lack these basic protections, TSOs often labor in disgracefully poor working conditions. In 2006, they had the highest rate of injury among all DHS agencies--more than twice that of any other security agency. Inadequate staffing means TSOs are often forced to work mandatory, unscheduled overtime, leaving them exhausted and creating unsafe conditions. They can be fired for speaking out about unfair treatment, unsafe working conditions, or national security issues, and they have no effective way to appeal such unfair treatment.

As a result, TSOs have the lowest morale and highest rate of turnover among Federal agencies. In 2006, the attrition rate for TSOs was 16 percent--more than 3 times that of any other security agency, and more than 6 times the national average for the Federal government. They have a higher attrition rate than even high turnover private sector employers. The chances are good that the person preparing your coffee at the airport has more experience than the screener who checked your bags for bombs.

These sky-high attrition rates are alarming. The lack of experienced security screeners threatens our national security. Constant turnover reduces institutional knowledge and undermines the agency's ability to implement effective security procedures. It also has a high financial price--the cost of training new employees has risen so high that TSA has had to request an additional $10 million in funds from Congress for this year to address these turnover concerns.

Low morale and high turnover at a front-line security agency is a recipe for disaster. We have to solve the problem. Our Nation, and these hard-working federal employees, deserve better.

TSOs have earned the right to be treated with respect. They deserve the same fundamental workplace rights as other Federal security employees, including whistleblower protections, appeal rights, and collective bargaining rights. The issue is one of basic respect for this valuable workforce.

I have heard some deeply disturbing rhetoric from my Republican colleagues about the effect of restoring these collective bargaining rights. It has been suggested that if these rights are restored, workers will try to hide behind their contracts and not respond in an emergency. It has been suggested that collective bargaining rights keep security workers from performing their jobs effectively.

These suggestions are an insult to every man and woman in uniform who works under a collective bargaining agreement across this country. To suggest that union workers will not do what is best for our country in the event of an emergency is scandalous, particularly in light of recent history.

Every New York City firefighter, EMT and police officer who responded to the disaster at the World Trade Center on 9/11 was a union member under a collective bargaining agreement. No one questions these employees' loyalty or devotion to duty because they are union members.

On 9/11, Department of Defense employees were required to report to wherever they were told, regardless of their usual work assignments. No Federal union tried to hold up this process in any way to bargain or seek arbitration. Not a single grievance was filed to challenge the assignments after the fact.

Other Federal security employees already have the protections that the bill would provide, including Border Patrol agents, Capitol police officers, Customs and Border inspection officers, and Federal Protective Service officers. Many of these officers--particularly customs and border inspection officers who work at airports, seaports, and border crossings--perform fundamentally similar tasks to TSOs and have been performing them effectively with collective bargaining rights for years. It is an insult to each of these men and women to suggest that they will not be capable of fully performing their important duties if they are given a voice at work.

Collective bargaining is the best way to bring dignity, consistency, and fairness to the workplace. It will make our TSO workforce safer and more stable, and enhance our security. Restoring these essential rights is long overdue, and I urge my colleagues to oppose the DeMint amendment that would remove these valuable protections from the bill.

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