usafwso

What is wrong with the 50,000 TSA uniforms that are being used now? Oh, but of course, $50,000,000 for a uniform contract lobby buddy. What a joke!

gobluetwo

Geez, get over it, man. omascreener was merely suggesting that actual LEOs probably get a similar uniform allowance, not that a TSA screener is equivalent to a LEO. You're reading something into the statement that just isn't there.

It does make you wonder, though, doesn't it? How inefficient are these government agencies in their spend, especially yours? I know that's way above your pay grade, but it's important that everyone - even the rank and file - take notice and care. It affects you, not just as an employee of the TSA/DHS, but as an American citizen.

To that end, though, I would imagine that air marshals and inspectors might get a larger allocation than screeners and baggage handlers.

tev9999

Don't forget that with the massive turnover, 50,000 TSOs probably equate to 55,000 or 60,000 individuals a year. Do uniforms get re-issued when someone quits? Still seems quite expensive.

halls120

Under the table payoffs.

Maxwell Smart

Agreed, I don't think omascreener was equating screeners to LEO's. I think the comment was just meant to imply that LEO's, unlike screeners, probably receive close to a $1000 allowance, not that screeners should also receive the same.

Superguy

Are these the new brown shirts?

MetricFlyer

I wouldn't mind it so much if the uniforms were designed by fashion designers like the Italian police uniform or the Vatican Swiss Guards.

At least the uniforms are not going to be manufactured in Communist China, I sincerely hope?

Why does this not warrant a congressional investigation.

VonS

What happened? Did they outgrow the old uniforms???

MetricFlyer

probably need new uniforms with bigger pockets so they have places to put "stuff"

jkhuggins

You know ... it's always possible that uniforms, which are worn every day at a checkpoint, wear out over time. It's been known to happen. It happens in other uniformed jobs, too, not just TSA.

(Oh, I'm sorry ... it's just more fun to make fun of TSAs. Never mind. As you were, everyone...)

Pup7

omascreener, I sincerely believe you're just doing your job, and I'm not attacking you.

That said, if FAMs fall under/with TSA, then all their stuff will be allocated in that money as well, including whatever business attire they're possibly reimbursed for (I got a special clothing allowance when I was a military working dog handler for suits/business clothing to wear on Secret Service assignments, so I have no doubt they're paid for whatever their 'uniform of the day' may be, and my guess is it's more than your everyday TSA stuff). So no, it's not fair, because all the public is going to do is hear '$50 mil contract for TSA' and 'sequester' and flip their lids.

With THAT said, SERIOUSLY? Or is the $50 mil just business as usual and it's being sold as more of what I call 'sequester porn' by the press? (Obviously not the case if these are different uniforms.)

Also keep in mind a lot of federal contracts become 'law' as soon as they're 'signed' and have to be paid out. But Mexico? I thought there was a LAW against that sort of thing!

RadioGirl

For 50,000 people, all at once? The people who were hired, say, 6 months ago and given a new uniform then need a completely new one now?

Really?

jkhuggins

We don't know that these uniforms are being distributed all at once. It's entirely possible that some will be set aside and distributed in the future, as needed.

TSA probably bought them all at once in order to save money by buying in bulk. And we want TSA to save money, right?

chollie

Just to put things in perspective:

McDonald's uniforms run <$11 for trousers, <$11 for polo shirts, <$14 for manager's shirts (same blue as TSA shirts without the shoulder patches), <$14 for the manager's trousers.

Employees are given their first uniform on the first day of work and pay for subsequent replacements. I would expect that the average McDonald's employee's uniform is subject to tougher conditions than the average TSA employee's uniform.

Of course, McDonald's is for-profit and TSA is spending the taxpayers's money.

WillCAD

I worked at several fast food places when I was in high school. There was no denying the durability of the uniforms - they took a serious pounding and kept coming back for more.

We were only issued one uniform and were expected to launder it every day. Since I didn't enjoy wearing dirty clothing even as a teenager, I did, in fact, launder mine every day, and never wore out a uniform component.

In a more adult job such as TSO, I would expect to be issued multiples of each component so that the employee doesn't have to launder his uniform and wear the same one every day. However, I would also expect those uniforms to be durable enough to handle the rigors of the job - which are, let's face it, a lot fewer for the clothing than those faced by fast food workers.

This fits nicely with something that FTers have been saying for years: the badged, paramilitary, pseudo-police uniforms worn by front-line screeners are wholely inappropriate to the job they do, not only from an image standpoint, but from a cost standpoint as well. Simple black (for cold climes) and khaki (for hot climes) pants, blue polo shirts, and comfortable black sneaker-style work shoes are all that is needed for a TSO. Pin-on name badges, along with a neck lanyard for the official airport ID cards and access cards, and pin-on rank insigia for the collars, would complete the ensemble - and all at a far lower cost, with far greater durability, than the mall cop uniforms they were now.

Instead of $1000 per employee, such uniforms, when bought in bulk, could cost less than $200 per employee, easily last an entire year or more, and could be turned in when the employee leaves or is promoted.