‘People are pissed’: union decries TSA’s removal of chairs for checkpoint staff

TSA workers at Albany airport in New York. Photograph: Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenTSA workers at Albany airport in New York. Photograph: Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty ImagesUS unions‘People are pissed’: union decries TSA’s removal of chairs for checkpoint staffOrder for workers to remain standing to ‘reinforce professionalism’ draws rebuke amid plunging morale

Union officials have launched a campaign to allow airport security staff to sit once more after the Trump administration unilaterally removed all the chairs for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff at checkpoints.

“People are pissed,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) TSA council 100 and president of AFGE local 1040, which represents TSA workers in Dallas-Fort Worth.

TSA officials ordered that chairs be removed from travel document check stations on September 25, arguing “maintaining a standing posture helps reinforce professionalism, attentiveness and active engagement with passengers” and that the policy change “reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality”.

Jones said his members had been flooded with calls and messages about the agency removing chairs.

“People are calling, members are mad, employees are upset because they literally started their day, everything was normal, and by halfway through their shift, they’re (TSA) taking all the chairs out and replacing them with inadequate mats,” said Jones. “The amount of phone calls I received is almost the same as if everybody got fired all at once, almost similar to when we have government shutdowns.”

“Our officers screen millions of people a day and they do it right, sitting or standing,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of AFGE TSA council 100, in a statement. “Nobody who works a checkpoint asked for this. Nobody who flies asked for this.”

Jones noted the TSA checkpoint podiums are one of two places where TSA officers can rest their legs while screening passengers. Chairs were not removed from x-ray machines because the manufacturers recommend sitting while operating the machines.

Jones cited the union was not informed on the policy change and it was not negotiated, rather unilaterally implemented by the agency, and its unclear where it leaves TSA employees who require light duty accommodations.

Following the policy change, TSA workers were also required to sign a pledge that promises to support “the well-being and morale of our colleagues,” according to the union.

“They didn’t notify the union at all, obviously, nor the employees. They decided it would be a great idea to make their employees upset,” said Jones.

He said he is unsure what is being done with the chairs in airports around the US.