TSA volunteers lend a hand in Houston after Ike
Union expresses concerns about hurricane-related disciplinary actions, but TSA disputes reports.
Transportation Security Administration employees have volunteered by the hundreds to assist Houston in the wake of Hurricane Ike, and the American Federation of Government Employees has sent a team there to help TSA employees weather recovery.
"After Katrina, teams of individuals were created on a voluntary basis -- they're called forward team -- and in case of natural disaster, they were asked to come into the affected area," said Lara Uselding, a TSA spokeswoman working out of Houston. "They come from all over. I've seen people from Seattle, Oakland, JFK, La Guardia, Kansas, Idaho, Montana. They are flown in to take care of business while people in the affected areas go home."
Uselding said 670 transportation security officers had arrived from across the country to supplement the workforce at George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby Airports. She said TSA was trying to be flexible and let employees who live in areas affected by the storm go home to salvage belongings or to address storm damage.
AFGE said some transportation security officers were told that they had to report to work or face disciplinary actions, which Uselding vigorously disputed, saying employees who were able to come to work were asked to, but the agency understood that they needed to evacuate their families.
But AFGE President John Gage called TSA Administrator Kip Hawley to express his concerns.
"Hawley gave me assurances that TSOs would be allowed time to deal with this difficult time in their personal lives," Gage said. "The safety of those impacted by Hurricane Ike takes precedence over any issues we may have with the TSA."
Though TSA employees do not have collective bargaining rights, AFGE and the National Treasury Employees Union have organized chapters at a number of airports and represent agency workers in disciplinary hearings.
The AFGE team in Houston is distributing gas cards, fruit, water and blankets to TSOs affected by Hurricane Ike and will be setting up a provisional office. The team also includes a legal adviser, and the union is urging TSA employees who feel they were treated unfairly as a result of the hurricane to contact them.