UN Wants TSA to Unionize

Caught this mentioned on Cavuto's show on Fox. I found the USAToday report on the topic.

Get this:

The U.N. International Labor Organization's finding says that policy "may impede unduly upon the rights of these federal employees" and urges the TSA to "engage in collective bargaining" with screeners. The Geneva-based agency released its finding this month in response to a complaint filed in 2003 by the AFGE. The union lost a lawsuit seeking to represent TSA screeners.

The finding carries no legal obligation but reflects that the TSA is not following the United Nations' "core labor standards," says Hans von Rohland, an International Labor Organization spokesman.

"Now we have the rationale that this is not just a union whining," AFGE lawyer Mark Roth says. "This is a formal finding of a violation."

The finding will encourage Congress to let screeners unionize, he says.

I don't see really how this is any business of the UN or any international agency for that matter. You have to love the AFGE whining about "violations" when in fact there is no violations in US civil or criminal law. I suppose they could be given the right to unionize, but they would have to sign contracts that are so extremely limiting that it would make the presidential agreements look like a bill of rights.

It's nice to see that the article gave some voice to the TSA.

The TSA says unionization could hinder managers from quickly moving screeners to new assignments as security threats arise.

The nation's 45,000 screeners have been barred from collective bargaining since the TSA was formed after the 9/11 attacks to safeguard aviation.

And

TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe says unionization "would limit our ability to make decisions rapidly in the interests of national security and in response to risk."

How sad. Nothing detailing why the union lost their law suit.

My final analysis: Who cares what the UN wants.