TSA workers ratify first labor contract

The Transportation Security Administration employees ratified their first ever collective bargaining agreement Friday, according to a federal union.

TSA negotiated with the American Federation of Government Employees and reached a tentative agreement on the agency’s first every labor contract in August.

“AFGE is proud that TSA workers finally have a union contract that will improve their working lives and bring stability to the workforce,” said AFGE National President J. David Cox in a statement. “This agreement will mean better working conditions, fair evaluation practices and safer workplaces, and in doing so, it will improve morale. This is important because low morale leads to unsafe levels of attrition in an agency where a stable, professional workforce of career employees is vital to its national security mission.”  

The new contract creates new awards for employees at both the national and local levels. It reforms the leave process, as well as procedures for shift bidding and trading. The contract emphasizes seniority, giving officers who have been with the agency the longest advantages in nearly every aspect of employee competition.

The contract also nearly doubles the current $232 annual uniform allowance and permits new uniform variations to account for weather.