Federal baggage screeners will be well paid, union says

Baggage screeners in a new federal airport security workforce will receive competitive pay and benefits, an official with the largest federal employees union predicted this week. Under the aviation security law signed by President Bush this week, employees of the new Transportation Security Administration will not work under the General Schedule pay system that covers most federal employees. The legislation exempts the agency from Title 5 of the U.S. Code, leaving it up to the head of the agency to decide whether employees should have civil service protections and what they should be paid. While the American Federation of Government Employees believes Title 5 restrictions should apply to the new agency, officials are confident that the Transportation Department will offer baggage screeners a better pay and benefits package than they enjoyed in the private sector. "One criticism [of the private system] that everyone acknowledges is that low pay and benefits and employee turnover are very much related," said John Threlkeld, a lobbyist with AFGE. "Considering all the public interest in this, I think it's unlikely that pay will not improve." AFGE also believes the Bush administration will allow the new workers to join unions, a move that would not keep the agency from firing poor performing screeners, according to Threlkeld. "Allowing people to organize or engage in collective bargaining is not going to impinge on management's discretion to hire and fire," he said. "Not everybody understands that." The union lobbied Congress to give the new workers some civil service protections when the aviation security bill was in conference committee. AFGE urged legislators to give the Transportation Security Administration the same Title 5 status as the Federal Aviation Administration, which is exempt from portions, but not all, of the law. For example, the FAA does not operate under the General Schedule pay system, but employees still have equal employment opportunity rights and appeal rights with the Merit Systems Protection Board.