TSA agents talk among themselves as they wait for passengers at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in St. Louis on Saturday, March 28, 2020. A union representing 47,000 TSA workers has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the Trump administration from ending their contract. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI |
License PhotoMarch 14 (UPI) — A coalition of labor unions has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, seeking to stop the Department of Homeland Security from terminating a negotiated union contract covering tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration officers.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the American Federation of Government Employees, asks the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle for injunctive relief against the Department of Homeland Security’s “illegal and unjustified” revocation of their binding collective bargaining agreement.
Along with threatening airport and passenger safety, terminating the agreement “flies in the face of one of the most hallowed principles of the American political system — the sanctity of contracts,” the AFGE said in the lawsuit.
“This attack on our members is not just an attack on AFGE or transportation security officers. It’s an assault on the rights of every American worker,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
“Tearing up a legally negotiated union contract is unconstitutional, retaliatory and will make the TSA experience worse for American travelers.”
The seven-year contract, negotiated between the AFGE and the TSA, covers some 47,000 federal employees and went into effect less than a year ago, on May 24.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was ending the collective bargaining agreement, claiming — without evidence — that it has “constrained” the TSA’s mission to safeguard transportation systems.
“Eliminating collective bargaining removes bureaucratic hurdles that will strengthen workforce agility, enhance productivity and resilience, while also jumpstarting innovation,” the department said in a statement.
The department targeted the union in its reasoning for terminating the contract, pointing to “gaps” in benefits programs that were being taken advantage of by “a select few poor performers.” It also framed the union as collecting dues without protecting members’ interests and that TSA officers were being paid by the government but were working full time on union matters.
The lawsuit states the memorandum to terminate the CBA was signed by Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem on Feb. 27. The AFGE said it was informed that the contract had been rescinded a week later, on Friday — the same day it published its statement.
The AFGE said it rejects the “false claims” made by the department.
“The decision by Secretary Noem to rescind the 2024 CBA, end collective bargaining mid-contract and terminate existing grievances violates the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, is arbitrary and capricious and is contrary to law,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit comes amid a swath of litigation targeting the Trump administration over its treatment of federal employees. The AFGE has been among labor unions leading those efforts to protect workers harmed by the new administration.
Along with the AFGE, the lawsuit names the Communications Workers of America and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA as plaintiffs.
