The Nation: TSA unionization 'important victory' for labor movement

The liberal magazine The Nation hailed the election that resulted in the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) becoming the union for the Transportation Security Administration.

AFGE won a runoff election this week with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) for the right to represent TSA workers.

The magazine said Friday that the win was significant.

"These are tough times for labor unions," the paper said in an op-ed titled "TSA Gets Some Security of Its Own." "They are under attack in the private sector and at all levels of government. But workers are waking up to the reason for the attacks: Unions are essential sources of protection for essential workers.

"So it is that the labor movement has now secured one of the most important victories of recent years in a high-profile area of the public sector," the article continues.

Republicans have not greeted the TSA unionization with as much enthusiasm. After the results were announced, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said, "The traveling public will be absolutely delighted to learn that Big Labor has captured the TSA’s army of airport screeners.

“The Obama administration today can check the box on another boost for Big Labor and a significant setback for the traveling public," Mica said.

In its op-ed Friday, The Nation criticized rhetoric like that about the TSA union election.

"TSA workers are only the latest federal employees in critical national security positions to unionize," the paper said. "And the attacks on them and their potential union representatives have been crude and insulting. But the answer to the insults came in the voting by airport screeners and their colleagues on whether to go union.

"America's better off with unionized airport screeners — and it is good to know that, even as the anti-union right (in Congress and in the media) spread their lies, working Americans are still voting for the union," the article continued.

The ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), agreed with The Nation's take.

"Proud TSA screeners voted & getting select collective bargaining rights," he said on this Twitter page. "This is no time to further privatization agenda & cut their budget!"