U.S. Homeland Security announced Friday that it has ended its collective bargaining agreement with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers and their union.
The federal agency wrote on X: “At 86% of airports, TSA has more agents doing full-time union work than performing screening duties. 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. Eliminating collective bargaining removes bureaucratic hurdles that will enhance productivity and shorten airport security wait times.”
At 86% of airports, TSA has more agents doing full-time union work than performing screening duties. 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.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 7, 2025
Eliminating collective… pic.twitter.com/sRTFDnB66f
More Perfect Union, the progressive non-profit news media organization, says Homeland Security’s collective bargaining agreement with the 50,000 TSA employees and its union is legally binding and that the move by Secretary Noem is “illegal.”
Note: The founder of More Perfect Union is Faiz Shak, senior advisor to Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and recent candidate for the job of DNC chair, which he lost in February to Ken Martin, former chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party.
BREAKING: Homeland Security suddenly and illegally announced that it's ending a legally binding collective bargaining agreement with 50,000 TSA workers and their union.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) March 7, 2025
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MI) said Homeland Security was using “flat out wrong anti-union talking points,” and noted that Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for Trump’s second administration, Project 2025, called for the immediate ending of the TSA union and “eventually privatizing the entire agency.”
"Project 2025 was the conservative governing blueprint that Trump insisted during the 2024 campaign was not part of his agenda. Project 2025 calls for immediately ending the TSA union and eventually privatizing the entire agency."https://t.co/c3aL4HXypT
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) March 7, 2025
Note: President Trump fired TSA Administration David Pekoske on his first day in office. He has not replaced Pekoske, nor named a deputy administrator.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at American Immigration Council, responded to the memo that was distributed (as seen below, provided by The Boston Globe‘s Deputy D.C. Bureau Chief Tal Kopan) on X by writing: “TSA workers should go on strike in response.”
TSA workers should go on strike in response. https://t.co/GuJfDYFTD2
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) March 7, 2025
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