T.S.A. Screeners Choose Their Union

From the NYTimes.com:

Airport screeners around the county have chosen the nation’s largest federal employee union to represent them in collective bargaining talks with the government, federal officials announced Thursday.

The American Federation of Government Employees won a close runoff vote to represent about 44,000 employees at the Transportation Security Administration in the largest union election for federal workers in history.

Federal officials tallying the votes say A.F.G.E. received 8,903 votes, or 51 percent, while National Treasury Employees Union got 8,447 votes, or 49 percent. The runoff was held after neither union received more than 50 percent of votes in the first election earlier this year.

The vote came after John S. Pistole, who heads the T.S.A., agreed in February to grant screeners limited collective bargaining rights for the first time. The screeners, who inspect bags and guide passengers through security, had been among the few federal workers without a union.