• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Digital News Updates
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business

DHS ends collective bargaining for some TSA workers, citing productivity concerns

March 9, 2025

(The Center Square) – Tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees may lose union privileges after the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday it is ending a collective bargaining agreement with the TSA.

The decision strips collective bargaining power from unionized Transportation Security Officers (TSO) in particular, who are responsible for screening passengers, baggage, and cargo at airports and other transportation places.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the American Federation of Government Employees (AE), which represents TSO, has failed to protect members’ actual interests, as well as hindered productivity and merit-based performance.

“Thanks to Secretary Noem’s action, Transportation Security Officers will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them,” a DHS spokesperson said. “This action will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforces across the nation’s transportation networks. TSA is renewing its commitment to providing a quick and secure travel process for Americans.”

TSA has nearly 200 officers working full-time solely on union matters, with salaries funded by taxpayer dollars. Most airports are already short on screening officers, DHS said, with 374 out of 432 airports having fewer than 200 TSO to perform screening functions.

DHS also claims that at 86% of federalized airports, TSA has more employees doing full-time union work than performing screening functions, at taxpayer expense.

But AFGE President Everett Kelley called the DHS’ decision an “unprovoked attack” based on “completely fabricated” claims.

“Secretary Noem and the Trump administration have violated these patriotic Americans’ right to join a union,” Kelley said in a statement. [T]his action has nothing to do with efficiency, safety, or homeland security. This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union.”

Kelley added that all employees who join AFGE or any other union do so voluntarily, and that union membership is not required to work at the TSA.

 

By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square

Filed Under: Featured, Home Featured, News

Related Articles:

  • Carter County Man Charged With Sexual Abuse of Children
  • Bozeman-Based Texbase Launches Advisory Board,
  • Warren Buffett Marks 95th Birthday With Reflection on Legacy, Berkshire’s Future
  • Trump HHS tells states to remove gender ideology from sex ed or lose PREP funding
  • Gianforte Approves $308 Million in Broadband Grants
  • Gianforte Welcomes Semiconductor Firm to Montana

Primary Sidebar

Digital News Updates Logo

Recent News Posts

  • Montana State opens quantum computing facility
  • Montana Historical Society Revives Lecture Series, Launches Statewide Book Club
  • Carter County Man Charged With Sexual Abuse of Children
  • Montana State Auditor Warns of Rising Cryptocurrency ATM Scams

Recent Politics Posts

  • Knudsen Leads 23-State Coalition Urging EPA to Stop Funding Climate Advocacy Group
  • Montana Delegation Urges President Trump to Impose Tariffs on Russian Palladium
  • Montana AG Leads 22-State Coalition Asking Supreme Court to Hear Parental Rights Case
  • Governor Little Signs Executive Order to Streamline State Government

Recent Business Posts

  • Montana State opens quantum computing facility
  • Warren Buffett Marks 95th Birthday With Reflection on Legacy, Berkshire’s Future
  • Montana Commerce Department Launches New Loan Program for Rural Businesses
  • CNBC Ranks North Dakota Most Business-Friendly State for Fourth Straight Year

Copyright © 2025 Digital News Updates, All Rights Reserved.