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Message from Council 100
4/17/15
The Bonus Bucks 100/100 program is still on and the Council 100 would like everyone to call Bill Lyons
and Have a Lunch and Learn or just take that New Hire Class and show them why it is important to Join
AFGE. A New Hire Class is an easy way to increase membership and pocket a few hundred dollars of
Bill’s money! The Council has heard success stories of Locals increasing membership by 20 – 30
members in one new hire class. A Pizza and a bottle of soda goes a long way in gaining the new hire’s
trust, and a $100 Bill seals the Deal!
Council 100 would like to welcome newly elected Local President Pablo Alvarado from (MCO) Orlando
Freddie Cuellar (Houston), and Local President Dwight Douglas from (ORF) Norfolk Virginia. Welcome
and the Council 100 is here to advise and guide you on running a successful Local.
The Council 100 has appointed Mark Ireland of Cleveland and Bobby Newsome of Detroit as Political
Liaison Team Activists for Council 100. They will be working under Region 3 Vice President Vaughn
Glenn, and also working closely with AFGE Lobbyist Charity Wilson. Their duties include Recruiting
Political Activists within the TSA Locals, and visiting Congressional Leaders to promote TSA issues. Every
Local must appoint a Political Action Committee Person, who can work closely with the District PAC
Coordinators, and now the Council 100 Political Action Liaison Team. If we are to move to the GS Pay
scale, or rescind ATSA, then it will be through Congressional interaction. Mark and Bobby will also be
leading the drive to be more politically active with BUE Voter Drives, raising money to give to TSA
friendly candidates, and to actively recruit the Get out the Vote drives within your local AFL-CIO
Affiliates. 2016 is a big election year and can mean huge changes for the better, within TSA, if the right
U.S. President is elected. AFGE/TSA must quit the griping and start to become a “Player” in molding the
TSA Model Workplace that AFGE envisions, and not the Oppressive Vision that TSA Management has in
mind. In other words, “Nothing Changes Unless We Make an Effort to Help Ourselves!” So get off your
a__ __ and donate some time to make a positive change in your Union, and your Workplace.
We are 46,000 strong …We should be overthrowing Governments…Not crying in our Beer!
Volunteer…make a Difference! Get your Family involved too.
During the week of April 27th Mark Ireland and Bobby Newsome will be teaming up with Charity Wilson,
and meeting with Congresswoman Debbie Dengel, and Senators Debbie Stabinow, and Senator Gary
Peters to work on introducing legislation to Fund Armed Security within TSA Checkpoints. This all comes
in light of the New Orleans TSA Checkpoint Attack. Representative Debbie Dengel was the main speaker
at a Rally in Detroit in support of Arming an Elite TSA Security Team. She is a true friend of our TSA
Officers. A full week of meetings is scheduled with Senate: Ayotte, Alexander, Booker, Brown, Carper,
Corker, Cornyn, Cruz, Johnson, McCain, Nelson, Paul, Portman, Sessions, Shelby, Tester, and in the
House; Joyce, McCaul, Loudermilk, Turner, Jordan, Gowdy, Cummings, Gibbs, Sanford, and
Brownley. These are Congressional Power Brokers who control DHS, TSA, and fund our Pay. They also
control SPP. We need more face to face contact with our Congressional Leaders, and need more than
Representative Bennie Thompson fighting for our TSA issues.
On a positive note Orlando has pushed back the threat of Privatization... a Great Job done by Local Union
Members, and Leadership. Thank you, AFGE National and the AFL-CIO for your support. If Orlando had
fallen, then we were all targets.
This week the Union was made aware of TSA Random Lie Detector Testing being done at Texas Border
Airports. The tests are Voluntary and the Union cautions every Member to think twice before
volunteering for the Lie Detector testing. Only “Bad Things” can come from TSA induced volunteering. If
you fail, then you are probably terminated. You don’t know ahead of time, what questions TSA will ask,
and if you get nervous, or misinterpret the question then a Fail Score could appear. Lie Detectors are not
accurate, but TSA will Fire you if you come up with a negative reading. So Think Twice!!
TOPS Alert!!! Now is the time to prepare for the onslaught of Grievances. Remember 25% of the
Workforce will not receive a Bonus or Raise! That’s over 11,000 possible Grievances. We need to be
pro-active, and not reactive. Look at every Non-Member as the enemy! If someone has to be in the
bottom 25%, we will fight only for our Members. Hold informational meetings. Tell your Membership to
start writing each other up for awards, start documenting positive PAX
responses. Document…Document…Document! Some Locals have given out small notebooks to their
members, and have Leads and Supervisors sign them daily. Whatever, Works! Just be prepared to write
and fight for every point. Use this 25% to your advantage when recruiting new members. Save a few
dollars today, and Lose Thousands tomorrow. AFGE Membership has its advantages.
AFGE and Council 100 has filed a TOPS National Request for Review Grievance for the third consecutive
year. We are still waiting our turn to be heard by an Arbitration Panel. TSA refuses to allow these
Grievances out of their NRC control, and move on to a SRO decision, then finally ending up before an
Arbitrator. We are waiting for 2013 TOPS Grievances to be ruled on by the NRC. Chad is looking at filing
a ULP. He is gathering information on all Requests for Review Grievances that exceed 45 Days. So if your
Local has any old RFRs that have not been decided, that are over 45 Days old, then please send them to
your Council 100 Regional Vice President for documentation, and the Council 100 have them added to
Chad’s list.
On a final note John Thompson is working on the 2015 TSA/AFGE Council 100 Election of Officers, and
will soon be notifying all the locals on the process to vote, and tally how many votes each local will have
available to them. The TSA/AFGE Council 100 Election will be on August 16, 2015. One day before the
AFGE National Convention begins. Three years passes quickly, and this Council 100 has been tested, and
has seen many accomplishments. We have come a long way for a new Council. It has been a learning
experience for us all. TSA Management has lied, back stepped, and attempted to bully the new Kid on
the Block, and we have grown wiser, and stronger, for with experience comes wisdom.
A new Contract is about to be negotiated, and Interest Based Discussions will be about TSA/AFGE
Members Interests, and not Management’s Interests. There are Negotiating Team members with one
Contract under their belt, and we have seen that TSA Management can’t be trusted to do the right
thing. Loop Holes will be closed. Things are about to heat up! AFGE’s David Caan is working on a
Contract Survey to be sent out to all members. So look for it in the mail over the next month.
As always we will keep everyone well informed as information becomes available.
In Solidarity,
TSA Council 100
Hydrick Thomas
Council President
Alan Jackimowicz
Exec Vice President
Joe Shuker
Secretary/Treasurer
Stacy Bodtmann
Region #1 Vice President
Mac Johnson
Region #2 Vice President
Vaughn Glenn
Region #3 Vice President
David Curtis
Region #4 Vice President
George Stebbins
Region #5 Vice President
Jerome Coleman
Region #6 Vice President
Karen Moulton
Women’s Fair Practice