FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 07, 2025
March 07, 2025
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
[email protected]
Eliminating TSA Officers’ Union Is Clear Retaliation Against Union, AFGE Says
Trump administration order strips all collective barganing rights from 47,000 Transportation Security Officers
WASHINGTON – In response to the announcement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that she was issuing a determination purporting to end collective bargaining for Transportation Security Officers, AFGE National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
“47,000 Transportation Security Officers show up at over 400 airports across the country every single day to make sure our skies are safe for air travel. Many of them are veterans who went from serving their country in the armed forces to wearing a second uniform protecting the homeland and ensuring another terrorist attack like Sept. 11 never happens again.
“Today, Secretary Noem and the Trump administration have violated these patriotic Americans’ right to join a union in an unprovoked attack.
“They gave as a justification a completely fabricated claim about union officials – making clear this 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.
“Our union has been out in front challenging this administration's unlawful actions targeting federal workers, both in the legal courts and in the court of public opinion. Now our TSA officers are paying the price with this clearly retaliatory action.
“Let’s be clear: this is the beginning, not the end, of the fight for Americans’ fundamental rights to join a union. AFGE will not rest until the basic dignity and rights of the workers at TSA are acknowledged by the government once again.
“I call on all patriotic and freedom-loving Americans to contact your elected officials and demand they take action immediately to stop these attacks.”
Additional information:
All federal employees who join AFGE or any other union do so voluntarily. Joining the union is not a requirement of working at TSA or any other federal agency.
Despite false claims to the contrary, TSOs who volunteer as union representatives account for less than half a percent of all work hours performed at TSA. There are fewer union representatives nationwide at TSA than the number of total screeners at 86% of individual federal airports.
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