TSA Workers Union Calls for 6,000 More Workers
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union which represents Transport Security Officers at U.S. airports, has asked Congress for sufficient funding to hire an additional 6,000 officers, to relieve the labour strain which has led to long delays at airport security lines throughout the country.
This comes after Congress approved a shift this Monday of $28 million of the TSA’s budget to bring in 2,784 part-time TSOs as full time workers and hire an additional 600 officers by the end of the fiscal year. This May, additional funding allowed the TSA to expedite the hiring of 768 new officers and pay overtime for existing workers to catch up with the backlog.