Airport Workers Plan to Unionize to Protect Minnesota Employee Rights

Bloomington, MNIn an attempt to help protect Minnesota Employee Rights, transportation security officers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have decided to form a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created after the events of September 11, 2001. At the time, President Bush banned the organization's 38,000 employees from establishing a labor union, but since then roughly 12,000 TSA employees have enrolled in the AFGE, with thousands more joining the National Treasury Employees Union, according to Workday Minnesota.

Minneapolis' transportation security workers believe that unionizing will give them greater bargaining rights when the time comes for contract renegotiation.

State Representative Keith Ellison rallied with what could potentially be AFGE's newest chapter to show his support for TSA workers and their eight-year struggle to unionize.

"TSO agents are doing a good job every single day," Ellison told the rally. "Public safety depends upon workers who are feeling healthy, satisfied, protected, safe . . . Collective bargaining rights don't hurt our safety, they help our safety because they make for a stronger workforce."