(The following statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney regarding the Bush Administration’s decision to deny rights to baggage screeners was issued on January 9.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The decision by the Transportation Safety Administration to deny collective bargaining rights to the nation’s 30,000 airport baggage screeners is another assault on the established rights of workers to union representation.
Since the moment the United States entered the war on terrorism, union members have been unwavering and unstinting in their commitment to build a stronger and safer America. Union members rushed into the flaming towers in New York, many sacrificing their own lives to save others.
Union members worked round the clock, completing the demolition and clean-up operations at Ground Zero under-budget and ahead of schedule. And, despite being excluded from the airline industry bailout, union members working for the airlines have gone along with wage and benefit cuts, to help an industry in trouble. Yet incredibly, once again the Administration has used the war as a weapon to deny rights to the very workers it relies on to win the war.
This is a shameful act that should not stand.