**Washington, DC (June 29, 2006)** – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that airport security screeners employed by private government contractors fall under the agency’s jurisdiction, and therefore can be subjected to forced unionization. The ruling resulted from the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) refusal to back previous Bush Administration policy against granting monopoly bargaining privileges to union officials over airport security screeners, citing national security concerns.

The National Right to Work Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief in the controversial NLRB case at issue, known as Firstline Transportation Security, in which union lawyers sought to unionize screeners employed by private firms working under the direction of the TSA. The Foundation’s brief asked the Board to reconsider a lower decision to apply the National Labor Relations Act to private airport screeners working at the Kansas City International Airport.

A 2003 directive from TSA head Admiral James Loy made the Bush Administration’s position clear, stating union officials may not obtain monopoly bargaining privileges over federal screeners employed by TSA due to national security concerns. And yet, TSA would not take a clear position in the NLRB case opposing the forced unionization of screeners employed by private companies, even though such screeners are trained and supervised by the TSA, and serve exactly the same function as federal screeners.

“Aside from violating workers’ freedom of association, history tells us that interjecting forced unionism into such sensitive areas could have severe ramifications for Americans,” stated National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason. “The TSA bureaucracy’s refusal to uphold Bush Administration policy left the door open for the NLRB to put the interests of union officials above national security.”

Foundation attorneys argued that granting Security, Police and Firefighters Professionals of America (SPFPA) union officials the special privilege to force airport screeners into union collectives and, ultimately, to collect compulsory union dues, would both undermine national security by destabilizing security screeners’ work environment and infringe on workers’ freedoms.

The Foundation also chronicled threats to national security from illegal strikes, work slowdowns, or even terrorist infiltration of a union to allow a bomb or hijacker to be sneaked aboard a plane. Writing in dissent to the NLRB decision, Board member Peter Kirsanow agreed with Foundation attorneys’ arguments stating that, “National security is the trump card, and it has been played; the Board should fold its hand.”

In August 2005, Foundation President Mark Mix wrote to President Bush expressing “deep concern” over the bureaucratic reversal of Administration policy regarding the forced unionization of airport screeners under TSA oversight. Mix urged President Bush to correct the TSA bureaucracy’s sudden change in policy, explaining that it contradicted TSA’s earlier directives. Responding to public criticism, the TSA filed a “clarification” of its position in the case, but the NLRB majority felt it fell short of a reversal.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.