By Stephen Barr

One of the government's largest workforces will get an extra layer of whistle-blower protection.

In an announcement yesterday, the Transportation Security Administration said passenger and baggage screeners whose bosses retaliate against them for blowing the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse can bring their cases to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent quasi-judicial agency that hears appeals from federal employees.

The board will handle screener complaints "in the exact same manner" as it does from any other federal employee, said Gale Rossides, the TSA's deputy administrator. "If the MSPB issues a decision, TSA is committing to abide by that decision."

In creating the TSA as part of its response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress gave the agency wide leeway to set personnel policies for screeners, rather than treat them the same as other federal employees. That decision has led federal unions, which cannot bargain on behalf of TSA screeners, to complain that the 43,000 security officers have been relegated to second-class status in the government.

To provide some safeguards, the TSA in 2002 entered into an agreement with the Office of Special Counsel, another independent agency, so the office could investigate screeners' complaints of workplace reprisal for reporting fraud and mismanagement. If the office finds a screener has suffered retaliation, it recommends corrective action, including discipline of any supervisor who acted improperly.

Now, under yesterday's announcement, the TSA and the merit board have agreed that screeners who do not get a finding by the Office of Special Counsel in their favor may file an appeal with the board.

Kip Hawley, the TSA administrator, said the agreement with the merit board "provides TSA officers with another independent avenue for whistle-blower concerns."

Neil A.G. McPhie, chairman of the merit board, said "third-party review should increase the confidence of security officers to make these disclosures and contribute to the traveling public's sense of safety."

The American Federation of Government Employees has lobbied for the TSA to strengthen whistle-blower protections, and the union's general counsel, Mark Roth, called yesterday's announcement "a terrific victory" and "a tremendous big step."

Still, Roth and Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the TSA needs to do more to protect whistle-blowers, including permit screeners to appeal merit board decisions to federal court.

The TSA, however, cannot provide for a court remedy under its reading of the agency's legislative charter, Rossides said. "We would be fine if the Congress also laid this out in statue and provided the final federal court remedy," she said.

Sens. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), who specialize in federal employee issues, said they were pleased that the TSA will permit screeners to file claims with the merit board.

But Akaka also said the agreement "does not go far enough" and noted that the TSA "can pull out of this agreement at any time." He added that he was concerned about "the lack of detail" in the agreement.

Agency officials said that details about rights and procedures will be worked out in coming weeks and that the agreement with the Office of Special Counsel also will be modified to take into account the TSA's new commitment to whistle-blower rights.

The Office of Special Counsel said it received 25 complaints from TSA screeners involving whistle-blower retaliation in fiscal 2006 and received 24 such complaints in fiscal 2007. With the agreement with the merit board, some officials yesterday predicted that more screeners may file complaints.

TSA Whistle-Blowers Gain Access to Merit Systems Protection Board