"TSA screeners contact union lawyers about Honolulu firings"

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

TSA workers contact union lawyers about firings
By Gregg K. Kakesako 
The Honolulu (HI) Star-Advertiser
 

At least half of the 36 airport screeners who were told last week that they 
will be fired for allegedly failing to adequately screen baggage for explosives 
at Honolulu Airport have contacted union attorneys for representation. 

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in 
a written statement today that 18 Transportation Security Administration 
baggage screeners have met with union attorneys. "NTEU's role is to ensure that 
affected TSA employees are treated fairly," Kelley said. "The TSA officers have 
a right, under TSA rules, to review the evidence against them and respond to 
the allegations."

The 36 workers have until Friday to submit a response to the charges. The TSA 
then will take final action. If the federal agency proceeds with the firings, 
the workers have 30 days to appeal.

Two unions — NTEU and the American Federation of Government Employees — are 
vying to organize the nation's 43,000 TSA workers, including 750 in Hawaii. 
Balloting for exclusive bargaining rights will end June 21,

Some of Hawaii's TSA workers have been meeting AFGE attorneys, but an AFGE 
spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., could not provide the exact number this 
morning.

Kelley said because union attorneys were required to sign nondisclosure 
agreements before being given access to any TSA investigative reports or 
evidence, so "it is not prudent to comment on individual cases."

On Friday, when the TSA said it was issuing "proposed termination" notices to 
36 workers and suspending 12 other workers, Kelley said union workers were 
under pressure from airlines and supervisors to speed up the baggage screening 
procedures.

The five TSA managers who were given layoff notices last week included former 
Honolulu Police Department Deputy Police Chief Glen Kajiyama, who has been 
federal security director in Hawaii since 2007, and former HPD Maj. William 
Gulledge, the assistant federal deputy director for screening in Hawaii. He 
joined TSA in 2003.

During the TSA's six-month investigation 100 of the 750 TSA employees who work 
in Honolulu were interviewed, agency officials said last week.

Allegations surfaced in December when two TSA employees reported that luggage 
was allowed to go on flights without being screened or checked for explosives. 
The alleged misconduct affected a "limited number" of flights daily during the 
last few months of 2010, TSA officials said. The TSA officers worked at Lobby 
4 at Honolulu Airport, which services 12 airlines.

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