Airport Screeners Need Runoff to Pick a Union

 

Federal officials said 8,369 security screeners, who are employees of the Transportation Security Administration, had voted to join the American Federation of Government Employees, while 8,095 had voted to join the National Treasury Employees Union. The vote against unionizing was 3,111.

Since none of the three choices received a majority, the screeners will choose between the two unions in a runoff election that will omit the option of not unionizing. The winning union will represent the nation’s 44,000 T.S.A. screeners in contract negotiations. The runoff will be held over the next two months.

Labor leaders were pleased that 84 percent of the screeners who voted favored a union, saying it showed that many government employees still wanted to bargain collectively, even when public employees are on the defensive in places like Wisconsin and Ohio, where state leaders have largely curtailed the right of public sector unions to bargain.

Throughout the campaign, the federation of government employees insisted it had an advantage because 12,000 screeners already belong to that union, even though they did not have the ability to bargain until recently. But the Treasury employees’ union predicted that it would win because it already represented many Customs and Border Protection employees who work at airports with the screeners. The leaders of both unions voiced confidence they would win the runoff.

The federation of government employees says screeners should vote for it because it emphasizes bottom-up unionism and belongs to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the nation’s main labor federation, while the Treasury employees union says it warrants support because it represents professionals and provides excellent legal support.

The results of the vote were announced by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which conducted the six-week election. Each airport screener was given a personal identification number, which allowed voting by computer or telephone.

Until recently screeners did not have a right to bargain collectively. But in February, the T.S.A.’s administrator, John S. Pistole, reversed the position of his Republican predecessor and gave employees the ability to bargain collectively.

Mr. Pistole said screeners could bargain over policies on shifts, dress code, break time and awards. But the union could not negotiate wages, benefits, job qualifications, discipline standards or anything related to national security. He also said the agency’s workers would not be allowed to strike or engage in a slowdown and would be fired for doing so.

Many Republican leaders have said that allowing screeners to bargain collectively would jeopardize national security, warning that strikes and work slowdowns could cripple airports and result in insufficient security checks.

After the vote results were announced, Mr. Pistole said, “The safety of the traveling public remains our top priority, and I have made clear we will not negotiate on security.”

T.S.A. officials say unionization will improve screeners’ morale and will in turn improve productivity and service to the public.

 

Leftist Ex-Military Officer, Fujimori's Daughter to Face Off in Peru Runoff

 VOA News ?April 12, 2011

Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala speaks two days after the election at a local radio station in Lima, April 12, 2011

Election results in Peru indicate leftist, former army officer Ollanta Humala will face the daughter of imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori in a presidential runoff election.

With more than 92 percent of the ballots counted from Sunday's election, Humala led with nearly 32 percent of the vote, while Keiko Fujimori was in second with more than 23 percent.

Humala and Fujimori are set for a runoff on June 5.

The two will be competing for support from about 45 percent of voters who backed less divisive candidates. Former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski secured about 19 percent of the vote, while former President Alejandro Toledo was fourth with more than 15 percent support.

Analysts say many Peruvians question Humala's and Fujimori's credentials on human rights and see them as a threat to the democratic system.

Humala, who led an uprising against then-President Fujimori in 2000, lost a runoff election to current President Alan Garcia in 2006. Humala was outspoken during that campaign about his admiration for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but he has since distanced himself from the leftist leader.

Some Peruvians distrust Fujimori because of her father, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in death squad killings in the 1990s. He also has been convicted of corruption. There has been concern that Keiko Fujimori would try to free her father if elected.

Much of the presidential campaign has focused on continuing the rapid economic growth seen in recent years, while ensuring the poor also see some of the increased prosperity.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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Run-off election likely in Peru

。 11 April 2011 Last updated at 04:26 ET Ollanta Humala has been likened to Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez Partial results in Peru's presidential election give left-wing former army officer Ollanta Humala the lead, but without the 50% of votes needed to avoid a second round.

With 50% of votes counted Mr Humala has 27.6%, with former Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on 23.1%.

Keiko Fujimori, daughter of disgraced ex-leader Alberto Fujimori, has 22%.

Observers from the Organization of American States say no major logistical difficulties affected the election.

The results so far declared are mainly from cities and towns.

Full unofficial results compiled by the election watchdog Transparencia give Mr Humala a clear lead, with Ms Fujimori. If that is confirmed, there will be a run-off election for those two candidates on 5 June.

Former President Alejandro Toledo is also contesting the election.

Outgoing President Alan Garcia could not stand for a second term and his Apra party did not put forward a candidate.

Peru is enjoying an economic boom and the campaign focused on how to maintain growth while tackling widespread poverty.

'Aids or cancer'

Ollanta Humala, 48, who came second to Mr Garcia in 2006, campaigned on a promise to increase the state's role in the economy and redistribute wealth to Peru's poor majority.

Keiko Fujimori says she wants to continue her father's legacy

His critics have compared him to Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez, but he has emphasised links with Brazil's governing Workers' Party.

Keiko Fujimori, 35, appealed to voters who still admire her father, president for a decade from 1990. He is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for corruption and organising death squads.

She has defended his record, saying by taming hyper-inflation and defeating Marxist Shining Path rebels, he laid the basis for Peru's current economic boom.

The prospect of a run-off between Mr Humala and Ms Fujimori has worried some Peruvians, including the Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, who has said it would be like "choosing between Aids and cancer".

Mr Vargas Llosa is an outspoken critic of left-wing politics and himself stood for president in 1990 only to be defeated by Alberto Fujimori.

On the eve of the election, Apra gave its support to Mr Kuczynski, 72.