Homeland Security ends collective bargaining agreement with TSA staffers

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration, marking a major attack on worker rights under the Trump administration.

The department, in a statement announcing the termination, criticized the union whose staffers are responsible for keeping weapons off of airplanes and protecting air travel. The department said that poor performers were being allowed to stay on the job and that the agreement was hindering the ability of the organization “to safeguard our transportation systems and keep Americans safe.”

“This action will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforces across the nation’s transportation networks,” the agency said in a statement. “TSA is renewing its commitment to providing a quick and secure travel process for Americans.”

The TSA has about 50,000 staffers — called transportation safety officers — who are the ones responsible for staffing airports around the country and checking to make sure that hundreds of thousands of passengers a day do not carry any weapons or explosives into the secure areas of airports.

The decision to end the collective bargaining agreement comes after President Donald Trump’s administration pushed out TSA Administrator David Pekoske the day the Republican was sworn into office. The agency does not currently have an administrator or a deputy administrator.

The union said it would have a statement soon.