this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2025
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Summary

Trump is revoking collective bargaining rights at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), ending union protections for thousands of airport security officers.

The Department of Homeland Security claims the move will improve efficiency and security, but unions argue it is a retaliatory attack on federal workers.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) plans to challenge the decision. TSA workers fear the rollback will worsen working conditions and retention.

The policy reverses union rights granted under Obama and expanded by Biden.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago

STRIKE TSA!!!!! Don’t let them do this to you.

[–] Maggoty 69 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

TSA could strike and airports would be better for it... That's a dangerous game for the admin to play.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago

The way the TSA strikes is by causing massive delays for passengers going through security. The last time they did that, the security line at Atlanta international was 2 and a half hours long at times. It wound all the way back to the check in.

[–] paranoid 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I think that's part of the strategy here. "Look at this, I busted up this union and now flying is the most enjoyable it has ever been"

Edit: another piece of this is how much money would be saved by liquidating the TSA.

I know five or six people who work for the TSA, and every one of them are MAGA

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

That won't happen though. They won't be replaced with anyone, there will be massive delays instead.

But very few people will side with the TSA on this anyway.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I know five or six people who work for the TSA, and every one of them are MAGA

And yet it's very likely they won't put two and two together to figure out the sitting Republican president is responsible for their weakened union. Still, this couldn't have happened to more deserving people.

[–] IphtashuFitz 6 points 1 day ago

Didn’t you hear? It’s all Biden’s fault that Trump is being forced to do this. That’s good enough for them.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Odds are they didn't like the Union in the first place.

[–] Feathercrown 97 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Remember, it's not a right if it can be taken away! Your right to collectively bargain comes from the fact that there are hundreds of you and one of him, not because he "allowed" it.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Then striking workers have no legal protections, either. Better than no strikes, but we've basically lost 100 years of progress.

[–] Raiderkev 44 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lest we forget how we got here. Strikes and collective bargaining were the compromise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_violence_in_the_United_States

[–] Furbag 6 points 1 day ago

We need to go back.

[–] roguetrick 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The fun thing about wildcat strikes though is that you don't need legal protections for them to work. See new York's illegal prison strike for a good recent example.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

That's true, and it's probably the only way forward at this point, but it sure makes things harder than they needed to be.

[–] Jhex 7 points 1 day ago

Yeap but apparently there are hundreds ofn thousands of sheep or wolves that like to be trampled

[–] ChonkyOwlbear 170 points 2 days ago (2 children)

My love for unions eclipses my hatred for the TSA on this one.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The destruction of one union harms all unions.

[–] njm1314 12 points 1 day ago

Well except for one.

[–] Arbiter 19 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yeah, pig unions deserve to roast.

[–] Jumpingspiderman 21 points 1 day ago

Police Unions are gangs. Not labor unions.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

TSA is way more like mall security than police tho.

ACAB all the way, and TSA is little more than a hollow performance, basically security flavored LaCroix that ought to be abolished as genuinely wasteful and needlessly degrading and inconvenient to travelers.

But I don't really see TSA agents as cops. I'm sure the line blurs in some specific cases, but they're not going around murdering people with impunity like cops do.

[–] cogman 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sort of my feelings here. This isn't like the FBI or CIA that actively go around trying to fuck people over. Airports wouldn't function if they acted like that and politicians LOVE to fly.

But also, the TSA is a place we need to defund and mostly dismantle. There's no reason an airport needs so much security theater other than it makes rich people feel good. They need about as much security as a subway does (not much).

That said, they aren't first on my list for "defund the police". That honor belongs to ICE.

[–] AtariDump 8 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Pretty sure you misunderstood op. They're saying their hatred of TSA is overshadowed by their love of unions meaning they think this is bad because as the other person said, harm to one union harms all unions.

[–] Arbiter 10 points 1 day ago

I may be stupid and unable to read but at least I don’t work for the TSA.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Oh look, leopards at the airport

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Paying our employees less will increase security

You'd question the intellectual level of the person making that statement if we didn't know they're all just sayin whatever to excuse the inexcusable.

Canada? Abusive partner who has been stealing from us!

Palestine children? They're terrorists, we should kill them before they kill us

Transgender people? They're pedophiles, won't anyone think of the children?

Immigrants? Job stealing terrorists sent by Isis, we must stop them!

All hail and glory to king ~~elmo~~ cheeto!

[–] sunbrrnslapper 52 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Pardon my ignorance, but how does this even work? Like, don't they just walk off the job collectively until someone is willing to negotiate with them?

[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That's how unions are supposed to work. It's really the only bargaining chip workers have, at least until we can all be 100% replaced by ai and robots...

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Americans are so corporatized that they mistakenly think the power of unions comes from the government

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Which is pretty effective propaganda.

Union busters have spent a lot of money to make it feel that way.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

And that's exactly why they're in some part right. If you have enough money to buy scabs, and protection for the scabs, the union relies on the government making that illegal.

It's the break down of the pact. At a small scale anyway - obviously the longer it goes on and the further they go with the busting attempts, the more union actions will cause ripples in other industries, and solidarity movements. They can't buy protection everywhere, and if they try, it's escalation all the way to the bloodshed that wrote the pact in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago

The "protection" is the government not firing people for collective bargaining or collective actions. This is similar to when Reagan fired a bunch of ATC strikers and ever since then we've had a massive shortage of ATC personnel.

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[–] P1k1e 32 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Hang on, I'm probably crazy but Im seeing a trend here.... Are they hoping for another 9/11? Cuz I could totally see them trying for another 9/11. TSA ain't even that effective so it's not really about them existing or not, but more about the idea, that it could happen again

[–] pyre 16 points 1 day ago

considering how 9/11 made the American people so eager to embrace fascism, yeah why not?

[–] Raiderkev 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Possibly, Putin had an allegedly staged terror attack early on to drum up support

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings

And Trump seems to be following his playbook to the T.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But the thing about Trump, is that he'll have to out do 9/11, his ego won't allow anything less.

That is what terrifies me

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Bomb all of Manhattan. Award the rebuilding contract, subsidies and land to your friends. Profit

[–] Bischmeister 3 points 1 day ago

I could it see it being a cyber attack. Like a ransomware or ddos of government systems.

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[–] DevCat 46 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Okay, so he revoked the collective bargaining rights. He didn't revoke the ability to go out on strike, though. It just won't be an organized strike.

Weren't strikes the compromise to the other option, namely dragging the owners out of the factory and beating them in the streets? Maybe they just want to go back to the original system.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Just remember:

When beating your boss, use a bag of Florida oranges. They hurt like the devil and don't leave a mark.

[–] Graphy 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Just a heads up that beating your boss will leave a bruise but go ahead and do it anyways

[–] Yankee_Self_Loader 6 points 1 day ago

Bing Crosby is that you?

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The TSA never provided any tangible increase in airport security. DOGE could have started here.

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[–] DarkFuture 17 points 1 day ago

Trump was open about his hatred for unions and worker rights leading up to the election and working Americans still showed up and made him president.

I can't even blame this one on Trump. For once he was actually honest about his intentions. This is all on stupid Americans.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago

I would so love for every single TSA worker to walk out in protest of this fuckery

[–] Bieren 12 points 1 day ago

Fuck em. Shut down the airports.

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