Not that there was ever any doubt where this would be heading, but John Pistole has decided to grant unions the right to negotiate and collect more than $27 million per year in union dues from the roughly 45,000 staffers at the Transportation Safety Administration.

Back in November, TSA boss John Pistole granted the TSA employees the right to unionize, but had publicly deferred making a decision whether or not a union would have the right to bargain. Today, the right to bargain was granted:

The decision by the Transportation Security Administration marks an important, if not complete, victory for the two largest federal employee unions that have long pushed for the ability to negotiate on behalf of the workers. Those unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union, are competing in an election campaign to win the support of about 45,000 officers who screen airline passengers and baggage.

The election is being closely watched by the wider organized labor movement because the officers are the largest group of workers now engaged in a union organizing effort in the country.

Now, for every grope you get, you can be comforted in knowing that a union boss somewhere is smiling.

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.”  Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

X-posted.