Oakland airport screener, fired for union activity, can sue government - by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit today by a former baggage screener at Oakland International Airport who said he had been fired for union organizing in an agency that has abolished collective bargaining for its employees.
Workers and their unions have a right to sue for violation of their constitutional rights, including the rights of free speech and association, despite a post-Sept. 11 law giving the government broad power to hire and fire airport screeners, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.