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TSA Sets Jan. 11 End to Union Contract for 47,000 Screeners, Shifts to New Labor Framework

The agency cites Secretary Kristi Noem’s September determination that screening is a national security function incompatible with collective bargaining.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer checks passengers into security at LaGuardia Airport in New York January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, right, shakes hands with Transportation Security Administration Officer Monica Degro at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

Overview

  • TSA says it will rescind the 2024 collective bargaining agreement and implement a new security-focused labor framework effective Jan. 11, 2026.
  • Under the new framework, TSA policy will replace contract provisions, payroll deductions for union dues will stop, and the agency says alternative channels will address employee concerns.
  • Homeland Security’s rationale rests on Noem’s memo declaring that employees performing screening functions may not engage in collective bargaining or be represented by a union.
  • AFGE leaders call the move illegal and retaliatory and say they will continue litigation, with a trial over the earlier attempt scheduled next year.
  • A federal judge in June issued a preliminary injunction blocking the first revocation effort and found the prior action likely retaliatory and arbitrary, and the current contract had been set to run through 2031.