A union representing workers of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took out a full-page ad in The Hill newspaper on Wednesday to amplify its call for 6,000 additional full-time security screeners to alleviate long airport security lines.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is asking Congress to pass emergency legislation funding additional screeners, which are needed to counter staffing cuts and address growing passenger counts.
“It’s time for Congress to stop the waiting games and give TSA the resources it needs to meet growing demands at our nation’s airports,” AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. said. “This is not a complicated problem, but Congress is avoiding the commonsense solution: Give TSA the resources it needs to hire enough screeners to meet passenger demand.”
AFGE points to a 5,000 employee reduction since 2013 and a 15 percent increase in passenger volume as reason for the requested increases in funding. Total passenger volume is expected to exceed 800 million this year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Congress has shifted funds from other Homeland Security accounts so that TSA could hire approximately 800 new employees and pay for additional overtime, however, Cox considered that to be a short-term fix to a long-term issue.
The AFGE is the largest federal employee union, representing more than 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.