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Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) says the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 is really the fault of TSA union employees, and justifies his hold on the TSA director nominee as such. Seriously.
The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama’s nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.
DeMint said in a statement that the attempted attack “is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA.” He wants Southers to clarify his stand on unionizing the TSA, a shift that Democrats support.
Without collective bargaining, DeMint said, the TSA has “flexibility to make real-time decisions that allowed it to quickly improve security measures in response to this attempted attack.”
If organized labor got involved, DeMint said, union bosses would have the power “to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports.”
He urged Obama to “re-think” supporting unionizing the TSA “and put the interests of American travelers ahead of organized labor.”
This is, quite obviously, ludicrous.
Do the unions of pilots and flight attendants not allow airlines to make “real time decisions” or negatively impact security? No. Is there any evidence that allowing TSA employees to bargain for better wages and workplace conditions would have caught or stopped Abdulmutallab? No. Would AFGE, the union that would represent the 50,000 TSA employees, ever consider vetoing or delaying security measures at airports? No. Does any of that stop DeMint from being a blowhard and saying this anyway? No.
TSA employees deserve to have a voice at work, just like any other person who works for a living. Collective bargaining is key to giving employees a voice at work, to improve the experience for passengers and to improve safety. Study after study shows that workplace safety and product or service quality improves when workers have a union, because they have a voice to speak up and share what works and what doesn’t .
Of course, Jim DeMint would rather use an attempted bombing to take a dump on the very employees in the United States who protect our airports, and leave the country without a Director of Transportation Safety in the process.
So who, exactly, is “delaying future security improvements at our airports” again, Senator DeMint? (Tip ‘o the hat to Spencer Ackerman’s Windy piece.)
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A hold is merely a signal that they intend to filibuster something. So the fact that this nomination hasn’t moved forward must mean at least one “Democrat” must be willing to join Jim and Goopers band. Do we know who that is? One of the usual suspects I imagine, but it’d be nice to know which one.
Excellent point. It’s tough to remember we have 60 senators when, you know, we never actually do. I’d bet it’s any of the opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act – Nelson, Lincoln, Landrieu. A good question though.
Apologies, I confused the posts. I would think one of those 3 opposes the NLRB nomination; I don’t know who else would oppose TSA’s nominee.
I wonder if DeMint’s real reason for opposing Southers’ nomination is that Southers is a black man?
DeMint’s ignorance and prejudice know no bounds, so the question is not as preposterous as it sounds.
Reid is calling for a cloture vote on Southers, wo we’ll find out if any “Democrats” join the filibuster.
Actually, it’s quite likely the reason Reid is calling for the vote is because he already knows he has the 60 votes, so confirmation is probably likely at this point.
I think.
If the TSA people unionize, we’re all at their mercy (which we all are now kind of). Pulleeeaaazzzzze, let’s not go there. We want to be able to get rid of the stupid, angry ones that give the rest a bad name.
Thousands Standing Around may organize and refuse to inspect the underwear of the traveling public.
What happens to all those vaunted Republican liberties and freedoms when it comes to free people deciding to unionize?
This is posturing so Demint can enhance his perfect ratings with Chamber of Commerce. Kneejerk from our biggest jerk in SC
Hey, thebride. Welcome to Work in Progress.
This is a blog about unions and working people. I write this blog to promote the idea that every person deserves a voice at work and the choice to join a union. TSA has one of the highest turnover rates among federal agencies because of the difficult work with no chance to come together and make their workplace better and more safe. TSA employees organizing is one of the better things we can do to improve the agency and our airports.
That’s what we care about here at Work in Progress and at Firedoglake. So, welcome, but know that you’re well in the minority, and that we won’t tolerate continued negative comments. Feel free to engage on the issues, but don’t bash working people.
See my response to thebride above. TSA employees want to have safe airports as much as anyone else. To suggest otherwise is just ignorant.
It’s also good posturing for a 2012 run with the far-right activists.
Sounds like Jim DeMint should change his name to Jim DeRanged.
Meanwhile, there is some distressing and depressing news:
20 million people in the US collected unemployment at some point during 2009, and “more than 5.8 million people [were] out of work for more than six months.”