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A labor relations board on Thursday issued a decision allowing the certification of the National Treasury Employees Union as the sole representative of about 21,000 Homeland Security Department employees.

The full Federal Labor Relations Authority rejected a petition to review a regional office's decision that upheld the results of a June 2006 election on representation of non-Border Patrol employees within DHS' Customs and Border Protection bureau. The American Federation of Government Employees, which lost the election by about 4,000 votes to NTEU, claimed the regional office's ruling relied on decisions in previous cases that were not relevant.

But the full panel determined in its decision that the regional office looked at the correct precedents in rejecting AFGE's arguments that CBP was biased in favor of NTEU.

Certification of the election results is expected within five working days, bringing the drawn-out dispute to a close.

The battle began when CBP sought to consolidate the non-Border Patrol employees -- represented by three different unions based on the agencies they had worked for prior to the March 2003 creation of Homeland Security -- under a single labor group. It pitted AFGE, which mainly represented former Immigration and Naturalization Service employees, and NTEU, which primarily represented former Customs Service employees, against one another at a time when they were working side-by-side on an ultimately successful lawsuit against proposed labor relations changes at the department.

Colleen Kelley, president of NTEU, said she is ready to start welcoming new members, identifying and training new union stewards to take leadership roles, and bargaining with management to reach an agreement that addresses issues such as work schedules. "We've been planning this for 11 months," she said. "Now finally these employees will have it."

Already, hundreds of AFGE members have signed forms to join NTEU, Kelley said. The union also will represent CBP's former Agriculture Department inspectors -- who had been represented by the National Association of Agriculture Employees -- and CBP officers hired after the creation of DHS.

"While we're disappointed in the FLRA ruling, we encourage our members to continue to belong to a union and we hope to cooperate with NTEU during this transition," said John Gage, AFGE's national president.

NTEU is "always looking to improve the conditions" for employees represented, Kelley said. The union will review existing AFGE and NAAE agreements before undertaking new negotiations, she said.

Customs employees belonging to NTEU have received extra pay for using foreign language skills on the job as part of an agreement in place since 1995, Kelley said. AFGE recently obtained the benefit for its members. Kelley said NTEU will seek to ensure all employees have access to the same award system.