Association Representing Air Marshals Applauds Dress Code Modifications

Doyle said that for the association to attribute the dress code changes to Chertoff "is a broad brushstroke on their part," since Quinn revised the policy.

The government had about 30 air marshals on duty Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked jetliners and slammed them into the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Officials would not say how many marshals are on the payroll today, citing security concerns.

Union Inspectors to Stay in Union

The American Federation of Government Employees will continue to represent about 70 import inspectors that the Agriculture Department had deemed no longer eligible for union membership, according to a decision by the Chicago regional director of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

The department had sought to exclude the inspectors from the union on national security grounds, but the FLRA found that their work does not have "a clear and direct connection to national security." The department has 60 days to study the case to see whether it can find grounds for an appeal.

The import inspectors go into warehouses to ensure that food imports were properly inspected overseas and sometimes test products entering the nation, said Peter F. Winch , a union official.

AFGE represents about 5,000 Agriculture Department food inspectors, consumer safety inspectors and food technologists.

Talk Shows

Colleen M. Kelley , president of the National Treasury Employees Union, and Larry Adkins , NTEU deputy general counsel, will be the guests on "FEDtalk" at 11 a.m. today on Federalnewsradio.com and WFED (1050 AM).

Vance Hitch , chief information officer at the Justice Department, will be the guest on "The IBM Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m. Saturday on WJFK (106.7 FM).

"Getting Checks to the Military, Retirees and the Disabled" will be the topic of discussion on the Imagene B. Stewart call-in program at 8 a.m. Sunday on WOL (1450 AM).

E-mail:barrs@washpost.com