Trump admin cuts TSA union deal to remove ‘bureaucratic hurdles’

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that it has terminated its collective bargaining agreement with the Transportation Security Administration’s more than 50,000 security officers.

According to a DHS press release, the administration hopes the move will remove “bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility [and] enhance productivity and resiliency, while also jumpstarting innovation.”

‘Removing the constraints of collective bargaining.’

The department argued that “gaps in benefit programs” had been exploited by some, including one instance where a transportation security officer requested sick leave more than half a year in advance.

“TSA has more people doing full-time union work than we have performing screening functions at 86% of our airports. Of the 432 federalized airports, 374 airports have fewer than 200 TSA Officers to [perform] screening functions,” the DHS contended.

It noted that nearly 200 employees receiving government pay work “full-time on union matters.”

The Trump administration’s DHS slammed the TSA’s unionization for allowing “poor performers” to remain on the job and forcing “merit-based performance” to take a back seat.

“By eliminating the collective bargaining agreement, Transportation Security Officers will now have opportunities based on their performance, not longevity or union membership,” the DHS declared.

A department spokesperson stated that the union has failed to represent its workers or their interests.

“The Trump Administration is committed [to] returning to merit-based hiring and firing policies,” the spokesperson said. “This action will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforce[] across the nation’s transportation networks. TSA is renewing its commitment to providing a quick and secure travel process for Americans.”

TSA Administrator Adam Stahl applauded DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for “removing the constraints of collective bargaining.”

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing more than 80,000 federal government workers, called the DHS’ decision an “unprovoked attack” and a “clear retaliation.”

AFGE National President Everett Kelley stated, “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.”

Kelley accused Trump’s administration and Noem of violating the workers’ “right to join a union.”

“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,” Kelley continued. “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.”

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