US airport security officers who verify boarding passes and IDs ahead of security checkpoints will no longer be allowed to sit down while working. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was moving forward with this change in policy to keep officers “alert”, the agency confirmed recently. The American Federation of Government Employees Council (AFGEC), the union representing TSA officers, pushed back on this decision and said in a statement that it was not involved in the decision.
The TSA has navigated a tumultuous year after withstanding a 76-day government shutdown from February to April that resulted in officers working without pay. Due to the shutdown, some TSA workers did not report for unpaid duty or quit their jobs – and lines at security checkpoints grew across the US. TSA workers were finally paid at the end of March after a presidential order from Donald Trump.
The government shutdown ended on 30 April after the US House passed a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. Furthermore, the labor union is raising alarms over a new program that will expand privatizing security checkpoints at three airports. The AFGE has been reviewing legal options to fight back against the privatization push from the Trump administration.
As TSA workers navigate the growing changes to the agency under the Trump administration, the union is urging congressional and senatorial leaders to join its “collective resistance” against the administration.
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