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Labor Leader Says TSA Keeps Public in the Dark About Serious Security Breaches

In comments during a panel discussion on the proposed federal budget, a TSA labor union leader accused the agency of failing to alert the public and its workforce about the most dangerous finds at airport checkpoints.

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2222 President Hydrick Thomas says that the public will likely never know how much TSA workers do to keep them safe each and every day. He told reporters this week that when serious security threats, including explosives found in luggage, are identified, the TSA makes every effort to keep the public blissfully ignorant. Perhaps more importantly, the former marine says that the agency often doesn’t alert TSA workers across the country to discoveries that may indicate a threat that screeners should be on the lookout for in the wake of a serious incident at another airport.

“The threat against this country is for real,” Thomas said in comments first reported by PJ Media. “Things happen at other airports; they don’t brief you on it. Incidents happen across the country that they don’t post. They keep that hidden from the public when they can.”

Thomas’s comments came during a panel discussion on morale and working conditions at government agencies following the Trump Administration’s proposed federal budget. The matter of steep cuts to operating budgets was just one of the items on the agenda this week. Union representatives agreed to be on guard for indications that federal workers, including TSA screeners, are being punished in the workplace for their private political affiliations.

“Trump made it clear they want them to pledge an oath of fidelity to him,” AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr told those gathered. “It’s scary and it’s shameful.”

Panel members also expressed concerns that federal workers will bear the brunt of belt tightening. Thomas says he took a job at the TSA because it gave him “an opportunity to make a substantial difference,” but he insists that this doesn’t mean he won’t stand up for the rights of his coworkers.

“No one took this job for salary, but they should be compensated for the work they do,” Thomas told Homeland Security Today.

[Photo: Shutterstock]

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Boggie Dog February 18, 2018

"No one took this job for salary, but they should be compensated for the work they do,” Thomas told Homeland Security Today. ............................................... TSA screeners are well compensated for the work they do. TSA pay scales are public and include locality adjustments to pay scales. On top of that education requirements are minimal and require little skill. If screeners don't like the pay then move on.

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twb3 February 14, 2018

The Union President is doing his job, but that dosen't mean that anyone need take his remarks seriously. The other thing he will keep secret to the grave is how being a union boss lets him make much more money than any of his members, thanks to the dues extracted from their paychecks.

February 14, 2018

Yawn.....just more union thugs trying to justify the extorsion of public funds. The TSA employees are some of the rudest, least productive group of people I have ever encountered my entire life. The US managed to survive up until 2002 without having to deal with these goons.......maybe we should go back to trying the same.