The Heritage Foundation’s contention that giving TSA employees the same collective bargaining rights as other federal employees would risk aviation security is insulting to the men and women who work hard every day providing it. Granting TSA employees collective bargaining rights will help reduce high turnover rates and on-the-job injuries, as well as improve morale and result in a more stable, more experienced workforce.

It comes as no surprise that the Heritage Foundation is flip-flopping on its position in order to take this opportunity to bash unions once again. In 2001 when the Transportation Security Administration was being formed, the Heritage Foundation was a vocal critic of the federalization of airport security workers arguing that airport security should remain privatized. There were no collective bargaining restrictions on the previous private screener workforce and many were unionized. In some airports where airport security operations are privatized today, screeners belong to unions and have collective bargaining rights that are being denied to federal employees.

It is in the best interest of the government and the flying public that these workers have the same rights as other federal workers and other American workers.

In every state in America, unionized workers—firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel, border security workers, and many others—are at the front lines of protecting the nation’s security day in and day out. The hero in the Fort Hood tragedy is a union member.

It is high time to end this ‘second class status’ of TSA employees when it comes to workplace rights. The American public is well aware of the dangers of hiring airport security officers that are not paid commensurate with their skills and responsibilities.

The Heritage Foundation argues that federal unions want to end TSA’s merit pay system. The pay system at TSA is by no means a merit system; it is a morale buster and a major contributor to dissatisfaction among good, experienced employees. It is widely perceived as being arbitrary and oftentimes, based on favoritism, rather than job performance. Collective bargaining agreements require that agencies follow merit system principles in all personnel actions, including promotions and work assignments. One of those principles is that selection and advancement should be determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills after fair and open competition which assures all receive equal opportunity. The implication that collective bargaining would necessarily result in promotions being based solely on seniority is baseless. NTEU wants the same thing that TSA employees want, and currently do not have—a fair and objective promotion process.

To say that union representation is not compatible with doing what must be done to protect Americans against terrorism is truly an insult to the integrity, professionalism and dedication of a broad range of hard-working public employees. NTEU has represented Customs and Border Protection employees for more than 30 years and never has that representation interfered with the agency’s ability to carry out its mission. In fact, NTEU has repeatedly fought for measures that would enhance the agency’s mission such as increased funding, staffing and an enhanced Law Enforcement Officer retirement benefit for CBP officers. NTEU negotiated with Customs the procedures related to the most successful drug interdiction initiative in the agency’s history known as Operation Brass Ring.

There is no basis for asserting that collective bargaining will interfere with TSA’s mission to safeguard our nation’s security or prevent it from acting swiftly and decisively in a crisis. The law applicable to other federal employees who are currently allowed to engage in collective bargaining permits agencies to take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies. Moreover, a federal agency is allowed to make changes prior to completing negotiations when the changes are consistent with the necessary functioning of the agency such that a delay in implementation would impede the agency’s ability to effectively and efficiently carry out its mission.

The CBP case cited by the Heritage Foundation had nothing to do with national security; it was about managers violating the law in how they picked employees to work at certain hours of the day.

TSA employees successfully protect vulnerable airports nationwide against terrorist attacks and illegal contraband and have done so earnestly for the past eight years. For this, they deserve the same civil service protections as other federal employees, like their colleagues in the Department of Homeland Security.