TSA slowdown / sickout
 

There are multiple media reports that TSA airport workers are increasingly calling in sick due to the gov't shutdown which has them working without pay.

I'm particularly interested in JFK T8, but wonder if people are seeing security slowdowns at major airports.

Since this isn't AA related, I'll move this over to the Travel Safety & Security forum. Thanks.


aztimm

It's pretty hard to tell since travel is super light this week so I wouldn't expect to see any issues YET. I didn't fly through T8, but the TSA checkpoints I saw at both LGA and JFK over the past couple of days had extremely short lines.

Monday morning will probably provide the first real reports if there's problems.

I hope CBP doesn't decide to do this.

So much for a dedicated, professional workforce. In previous non-funded periods government employees have received all pay due for any work they performed during non-funded days. Calling out sick accomplishes nothing other than making the public more aware of how TSA screeners work. I wonder what AFGE's agreement between the government and TSA members says about work slowdowns and the like.

I fully realize that not getting a paycheck when expected makes life difficult. Just because a small part of the government isn't working doesn't mean bills are not coming due. Where I work we have already taken steps to assist any federal employees who need help.

I don't know if it applies to TSA, but I think some federal workers require management approval before taking an outside gig.

I thought 'essential' personnel weren't allowed to walk off the job - it's a firing offense to do so. Management ought to ask for doctor's slips or dock their pay for time missed.

12/28 was the last federal payday, 1/11 is the next. Assuming government is funded/open by Weds morning and back pay granted, no one misses a check.

Their contract doesn't appear to address this at all: https://www.afge.org/globalassets/do...june1-2017.pdf

This is probably because it's effectively excluded from bargaining by the ATSA which states "An individual that screens passengers or property, or both, at an airport under this section may not participate in a strike, or assert the right to strike, against the person (including a governmental entity) employing such individual to perform such screening," and I believe that DHS has previously asserted that this covers other collective job actions.

Can't really blame some of these folks for walking off a relatively low paid job. This might be beneficial and help move things forward by causing pain to the public.

Screening is hardly what I'd call a relatively low-paid job. Federal pay, benefits, education, growth and transfer possibilities take this job way above housekeeping or fast food.

They have an important job and they are informed when they take the job that one of the 'conditions' of a critical national security job is that you can not strike, you can not leave the public at risk. Don't like it, go find a non-essential, non-national security-related job. There are many of them. This is not the first time we've had a shutdown and sadly, it probably won't be the last.

First of all, I think we all have to consider that the youngest group of TSA clerks were babes-in-arms when the 9-11 terrorist attacks happened. (Yes -- it's almost 20 years already!) So, perhaps the youngest group of TSA clerks do not share their elders' convictions that all of aviation security and the very survival of the country is in their hands. I would assert that this is just another job available for those of Generation Z who do not decide to attend college. So, "sick-outs" and other "protests" are, to them, quite appropriate. In a booming economy with plenty of entry-level jobs out there, the TSA might not be such a desirable choice these days.

They are academy-trained federal officers assigned essential national security duties.

Hold them accountable.