TSA says rule change is meant to keep officers ‘alert’, but union says it ignores safety and ‘common decency’

TSA says rule change is meant to keep officers ‘alert’, but union says it ignores safety and ‘common decency’

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.

“These chairs serve as basic ergonomic and safety support for officers that stand and walk on hard surfaces all day,” the union added. “TSA is treating this matter like it is a privilege – it is not; it is basic safety and common decency for the workforce.”

Additionally, the union is calling the TSA’s move a “disregard for employee rights and safety”.

  • architect
    31·
    17 days ago

    Uh…. Fuck the motherfucking TSA what the fuck?

    • BertramDitore@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      17 days ago

      No argument here. The TSA are security theater. They don’t actually keep us safe, and their jobs are more or less pointless, but they still hold immense power over us. I personally want the people who have the authority to throw me in a box for no reason to at least have basic rights themselves (like chairs at work), so they can’t use the lack of those things as reasons for treating the rest of us even worse than they already do.