WASHINGTON—In an effort to facilitate giving 40,000 transportation security officers collective bargaining rights, the American Federation of Government Employees announced during a press conference on Monday that they are filing a petition seeking an election to establish who will represent TSOs.

The AFGE and the National Treasury Employees Union are both vying to represent airport screeners as their official union.

This announcement was largely made out of frustration stemming from a failure to elect a head of the Transportation Security Administration, said John Gage, president of AFGE. “We have been patient waiting for a transportation administrator to be named and we’re disappointed with Erroll Southers backing out of the nomination,” he said. “We’re going to continue for collective bargaining rights and know we’re going to get it and we have to get it.”

Establishing which union organization will represent TSOs at this point in time will hopefully facilitate and speed up the process in which collective bargaining rights are granted, he said. “By settling the question of representation first, AFGE will be ready to begin negotiations as soon as the bargaining rights are established,” he said in a statement. 

However, this is not an ideal situation for TSOs. Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, who is also competing to represent airport employees, told the Washington Post that her organizations would win any election. But she told the publication, “It would be a far better scenario for employees if the administration would grant them collective bargaining rights. It is unclear what an exclusive representative would mean under this structure.”

The AFGE filed their petition calling for an election on Monday, but there is no guarantee that the Federal Labor Relations Authority will grant them the petition.