Letter to the editor
This is in regard to Milt Zall's Bureacratus column "Whistling in the dark" in the March 11 Federal Computer Week.
Just who in the name of heaven and hell does Transportation Secretary
Norman Mineta think he is?
Congress has given federal employees the right to form collective bargaining
associations (i.e. unions). Is Mineta greater than Congress?
The Office of Personnel Management and Congress have set the standards
for federal employee benefits. Is Mineta going to replace OPM and Congress?
Customs employees have been doing "airport screening" since the first
passenger flight from a foreign country touched down in the United States.
How can Mineta justify abridging employee rights under the Whistleblower
Protection Act just because the Transportation Security Administration is
a new agency?
These sorts of abuses are the very things that will defeat Mineta's
efforts to hire the "best and brightest." My son would be a prime candidate
for an airport screening position (two years of college and strong skills
in both Spanish and English). But if Mineta pulls bone-headed stunts like
this, there is no way I'm going to let my son (or anyone else I know) apply.
This is the sort of managerial behavior that encourages unionization.
Name withheld by request