TSA Chooses AFL-CIO Branch as Its Union

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) -- Airport screeners around the county have chosen the nation's largest federal employee union to represent them in collective bargaining talks with the government.

The American Federation of Government Employees won a runoff vote to represent 44,000 workers at the Transportation Security Administration.

Federal officials tallying the votes say AFGE received 8,903 votes, while National Treasury Employees Union got 8,447 votes. The runoff was held after neither union received more than 50 percent of votes during the first election earlier this year.

The vote came after TSA head John Pistole agreed in February to grant screeners limited collective bargaining rights for the first time since the agency was formed a decade ago.

The AFGE is a branch of the AFL-CIO.

Airport screeners had been among the few federal workers without union rights.