Airport Screeners Built Union the Old-Fashioned Way

Jenny Brown
July 22, 2011

The Government Employees signed up dues-paying members, organized locals, and represented workers at disciplinary hearings even though collective bargaining was outlawed until this year. Photo: AFGE.

For nine years the Government Employees union campaigned for airport screeners’ loyalty by representing them on the job, unsure whether it would ever be able to offer them official representation. AFGE’s strategy—walk like a union, talk like a union—paid off June 21.

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