So you won't be joining the union when it comes to your airport.....

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cf...dcn=todaysnews

Yeah...and I gotta bridge in Brooklyn you can buy.


Morons and Idiots.

Good for you that you don't steal. But I bet you KNOW who does and that you just look the other way....

Don't you like the shiny tiraras the perceived majesties wear?

We have had the opportunity to join the union AFGE (Allied Federal Government Employees) since day one, however, without any real bargaining rights. I haven't joined and may never do so. I feel that I'm compensated appropriately for what I do. I have enough education and experience to earn more if I choose. Currently, I enjoy what I do and the people I work with (including passengers).

I do not KNOW the people that steal. I would hope that it doesn't happen at MSP. I would not look the other way if I saw someone steal. I wouldn't hesitate to turn someone in for anything that resembled misuse of a public trust position.

The fact that some TSA or baggage handlers will steal something petty out of my checked bag (last time it was some chocolate-covered macadamia nuts I was taking to a friend) unfortunately means I can't extend trust to any of them.

So if it's worth anything, it goes in my carry-on. In fact, lately I've just stopped checking baggage entirely. Yeah, I have to do laundry more often - but I don't have to wonder about government-sanctioned kleptomania.

If I want to leave my bag in the hands of people I trust, I'll head for a lounge.

Given the current job market, and their lack of any kind of transferrable skill, or work experience, or education, they are very much overpaid.

They're LUCKY they're not unemployed, given the professional acumen most screeners I've seen have, the arrogant attitudes, the lack of education, etc. If you graduated top of your class at Harvard Law School and interned at 3 different law firms where your research helped win a dozen different class action cases, no, you can be a complete ......... and firms will STILL be banging down your door giving you job offers. But this isn't the case. The TSA screeners, as far as I can tell, aren't very smart, do they think critically all that much. And as far as I can tell, no TSA screener graduated top of his/her class ANYWHERE.

They're LUCKY they're not subject to the free market. If I ran a law firm/company/bank/consultancy, I wouldn't hire these people to be the doorman. Not even the janitor. I'm afraid they'd assault my clients because they're "underpaid" and hate their jobs. If you hate your job so much, go to college and get a BA in something marketable like the rest of us.

Of course this doesn't apply to ALL screeners, there are professional, courteous screeners out there, I have yet to see one.

I use NON-TSA Locks everytime.

I want to know if someone has been in my bag.
To date, I've yet to have my lock broken.

You can buy TSA locks with indicators on them. See here

I've lost countless non TSA locks (Bi Locks) on extra bags, but I'm lucky work has a huge box of them for people to lock up their laptops These are no small cheap locks, if they want inside they will chop the lock off.

I should add, the only thing I've had gone missing were some matches and a lighter.

Am I really a diamond in the rough? A TSO with a college degree!

The fact is, I have worked with TSOs over the years with BAs, MAs, PhDs....etc. I have worked with people who have worked for large companies such as IBM, 3M, Imation, Wells Fargo. I have worked with chemists, computer programmers, retired police officers, former pilots. I have worked with people that have went on to be police officers, pilots, Customs / Immigration Officers, Secret Service Agents, FAMs, financial consultants....

The TSA is probably one of the most diverse workforces in the country. A lot of things happened post-911, including changes in the economy and lay-offs from work.

Not much that I have read on here has offended me, I agree with a lot of the comments I have seen posted. However, this one irks me. You are generalizing ALL screeners in your statements. (Even though you say you aren't). Yes, SOME fit your description, but the majority DO NOT. I wouldn't say that I am proud to work for the TSA, but I am proud of the work that I do for the TSA. I have a college degree, I have common sense, I treat people with respect, I don't practice retalitory secondary screening, and I am not a moron. What I am is a single woman, trying to do my job, pay my mortgage, drive a stupid truck, take care of my stupid dogs, earn a decent wage and have some health insurance. So PLEASE, don't throw me into the mix of uneducated, lazy, ignorant, moronic people who are lucky to have high school diplomas and a job! Realize that the people you are refering to make up a small portion of the TSA, and that the majority of TSA employees are decent people.

Honest TSA employees such as yourself throw themselves in with "the mix of uneducated, lazy, ignorant, moronic people who are lucky to have high school diplomas and a job." It's great (seriously) that you treat people with respect, but you tacitly accept the small portion of TSA employees that do not. If not, what are the majority of honest TSA employees doing to eliminate the goons?

One can blame it on TSA management, but when one works with goons and doesn't actively try and stop them, one will get lumped in with the goons.

When you countenance them, you become a part of them.

As for pilots, financial consultants, etc. working for TSA.....yeah right, you've got to be kidding me. The economy might have been bad, but a financial consultant HAS to have been able to get a better job. That's like telling me someone with a JD from Harvard will now go choose to become a paralegal at The Law Offices of Joe Schmoe.

You DO have a BA in something marketable. That's great. But you're underemployed. You might as well be unemployed. There's got to be a better paying job. Even a legal secretary makes more than a luggage screener.

My experience has been similar. Many TSOs are retired military, or folks who have taken advantage of a corporate buyout. Are we "underemployed"? Perhaps, but keep in mind that some of us were successful in our earlier careers, and no longer need to work full-time!

Employers who offer health insurance, life insurance, 401K, etc., to part-time employees are few and far between, making the TSA an attractive option.

Hey, when the TSA quits treating me and my kids like criminal suspects, maybe my attitude towards the TSA and its members will improve.

I know both former pilots that currently work for the TSA and former TSA that currently work as pilots.

As far as the financial consultant, I said that I know TSA that have went on to be financial consultants.

It may sound far fetched to you, but I'm not pulling your leg. I'm sure there are other TSA people on this board that have similar experiences.

When did this topic go from a check luggage posting to what a TSA previous life/job was?

Please agree to disagree and let us move on, back to thread topic, if there is still one.

Debating is fine, but please don't take over topics in the process, there is the New Thread Option.