Legislation (S-2535) offered in the waning days of the just-concluded Congress to boost workplace rights of TSA screeners is planned for reintroduction in the new Congress.
The bill in general would extend the same employment-related rights and protections to TSA screeners that apply to federal workers.
Screeners make up about 70 percent of the TSA workforce but operate under restrictions on their bargaining rights and certain other rights dating to the agency’s creation in DoT in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
The bill would extend laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime provisions and the Family and Medical Leave Act leave provisions, and would end the separate pay schedule applying to them, moving them to the GS system instead.
Sponsors say the changes will bring TSA policies in line with those of other agencies in general, including other components of DHS, and will boost to morale at the agency, which continually ranks near the bottom on that measure in the annual federal employee survey.
