Maine AFL-CIO Condemns Dept. of Homeland Security for Stripping Collective Bargaining Rights for TSA Workers

Last week Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a decision to eliminate the collective bargaining rights for the union representing 47,000 Transportation Security Officers (PSO), roughly 140 of whom work at Maine’s airports, with the Transportation Security Administration.

“As of today, our collective bargaining agreement was terminated by Secretary Noem,” said Bill Reiley, a Portland Jetport screener and Regional Vice President of AFGE Local 2617, which represents 140 TSOs at airports throughout Maine. “Many of these TSOs are military veterans who put on a second uniform to protect American citizens from terrorist attacks. They show up to work every day to ensure our skies are safe for air travel. This action will make it much harder to recruit and retain qualified airport security screeners and make it extremely difficult for us to use our collective voice in our workplace to advocate for better working conditions and air safety.”

Last year, AFGE TSOs ratified a historic seven-year contract that includes better rights on the job, better pay, and a more powerful voice at their airports and with the agency. It’s unclear what will happen to the contract now. AFGE called the move an “unprovoked attack” on the rights of members to join 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,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement. “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.”

When the TSA was created in the aftermath of 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration denied them the same representational rights, pay, and benefits as other federal employees. It took many years and a number of legal victories for TSA workers to win the right to even have a union. TSA’s second-class status regarding pay, workplace rights, and equal protections means the agency made it difficult to recruit and retain qualified employees. Nearly the entire agency was replaced due to attrition between 2007 and 2018, as more than 45,500 TSOs resigned. Between 2001 and 2021, over 800 TSOs were hired and left employment in Maine alone.

“This violation of workers’ rights undermines the safety of air travel and the quality of service for all of us. We stand with TSA workers and will fight back to win their right to a union.” said Matt Schlobohm, Executive Director of the Maine AFL-CIO. “Taking away the right to form a union is a core part of the authoritarian playbook. We will oppose the Musk Trump Administration's efforts to strip away our fundamental freedoms and attack the core public services - aviation safety, veterans' healthcare, the postal service, social security and healthcare - that working people rely on."