TSA Employees Would Receive Expanded Work Protections Under Proposed Act

Leading House Democrats on the Homeland Security, Appropriations, and Transportation Committees re-introduced the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2021 in Congress. The bill, passed twice by the House in the 116th Congress, would expand workforce protections for employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 6,400 TSA employees have contracted the virus and 15 have died. Furthermore, lawmakers report that the agency has low morale and workers are dissatisfied with their current pay rates. According to OPM’s annual federal employee viewpoint survey, TSA pay satisfaction was at 30 points in 2019.

Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said of the proposed bill, “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Transportation Security Officers have remained on the frontline and put themselves at even greater risk every day to keep our skies safe. Despite their zero-fail mission, TSOs are among the lowest paid Federal employees and are denied workforce rights available to other Federal employees.”

This proposed bill strives to provide Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) with full federal employee collective bargaining rights, access to an independent third party for dispute resolution, and compensation under the General Services wage system. The bill, if passed, also guarantees that pay rates for TSA employees will not decline if airlines choose to go on strike in the future.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said of the proposed bill, “Since the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, these essential workers have been some of the lowest-paid federal employees in the entire nation, and have been denied basic workers’ rights. Still, they have worked through multiple government shutdowns, staff shortages, increased passenger volumes, and now a global pandemic. They deserve not only a pay raise, but the same rights and protections available to other federal employees.”