Posted on 05/18/2016 4:36:10 AM PDT by Kaslin
When it comes to public employee unions, there's no such thing as a coincidence.
All you travelers stuck in mile-long TSA security lines are pawns. Convenient political pawns. Big Labor bosses want more power and more money. Stranded travelers are just the latest victims in this age-old game of D.C. extortion.
Union leaders want you to think the fault lies with a stingy Congress unwilling to fork over enough money to fill screener shortages. White House spokesman Josh Earnest poured more partisan fuel on the fire last week by blaming the nationwide slowdowns on "the inability of Republicans in Congress to govern the country."
What a load of flying horse hockey.
The 15-year-old Transportation Security Administration now has a massive annual budget of nearly $7.6 billion and a workforce of nearly 60,000. They had enough tax dollars to waste on an idiotic $1.4 million iPad app that randomly points left or right; $3 million on more than 200 useless explosive detection "puffer" machines that didn't detect explosives reliably; and unknown gobs in awards and automatic bonuses to senior TSA managers at a time when the agency was repeatedly failing internal tests of its ability to stop weapons, bombs and terror threats.
Yet, last week, with airlines, airports and customers all raising holy hell, Congress scraped together $34 million more to pay TSA screeners overtime and fund nearly 800 more screeners to address the summer travel crush.
It's still not enough of course. It's never enough. Since last fall, the TSA workforce (unionized under the Obama administration) has staged protests at major airports (including Dallas-Fort Worth, JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Atlanta) organized by the American Federation of Government Employees, which is demanding full collective bargaining rights under federal labor law, along with hefty pay increases.
Obstruction is priority number one.
The agitators whine that TSA workers are not "respected" enough as a profession. "Morale for TSA Officers is at an all-time low," AFGE TSA Council President Hydrick Thomas complained in a recent statement. "We work very hard under some of the most stressful and dangerous conditions, but are treated like second-class employees as compared to the rest of the federal workforce. We just want equal treatment."
Perhaps if TSA officials weren't letting 95 percent of mock explosives and firearms through during audits and inspections, or if they weren't gratuitously groping grandmas and breast-feeding moms and wounded veterans, or recklessly handing out TSA Precheck status "like candy" as one whistleblower put it last year, or dumping 3,000 pieces of luggage in parking lots as a result of software "glitches," as happened last week at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport, or employing unknown numbers of criminals, or rewarding serial failures, we wouldn't all be snickering at their Rodney "I don't get no respect!" Dangerfield comedy routine.
Expanding TSA workers' collective bargaining rights is about expanding union bosses' authority to dictate every last detail of employment -- from pay and officer assignments to schedules and uniforms. The reason full bargaining rights under Title V of U.S. labor law have not been extended to TSA agents is to protect the agency's flexibility and discretion in the interest of national security. Yep, remember that? You know, the very reason the TSA was created in the first place?
If you think the current lapses in TSA hiring practices are bad, just wait until you have a system dominated by union negotiators who are allergic to merit pay and committed to protecting every last incompetent member to the death.
TSA union leaders hungry for new members and fattened coffers don't care about your security. This is all about control and money. Multiply 55,000 by $50/month in mandatory union dues and -- voila! -- they'll have $33 million a year to shower on politicians who'll do their bidding.
Is there anything the flying public can do to put a stop to this cynical exercise of Big Labor muscle?
Let me remind you of Government Shutdown Theater in 2013, when Washington held America's monuments and national parks hostage. Remember? Fed-up taxpayers finally revolted and broke down the Barry-cades blocking them from access to the public spaces they subsidize.
I'm not advocating breaking through those long lines in grand acts of civil disobedience (not just yet, anyway). But it is long past time for sick and tired, beleaguered and molested, robbed and overtaxed travelers to demand respect of their own and call out this selfish, security-undermining Big Labor power grab.
I have a song I sing, It’s called “You just put your hand on my penis. That’s assault”.
Except it is not a song. I say it every time I go through security. AND I SAY IT LOUDLY. They hate that.
I also inform people as they are getting felt up “That’s assault. They could go to jail for that”.
The TSA person inevitably tells me to move away and not interfere, and I always appear to comply, but move 10 feet away and repeat the statement.
I have not been arrested yet.
Keep in mind that at SFO the molesters are actual, overt homos. They should be arrested for homosexual molestation, IMO.
At security when I do this, I sense that 95% of the people around me are bleating sheep. They don’t get the big picture; they just see me being an @ss.
That sure is the answer
Yeah, I’m sure it will never happen but the easy solution benefitting the most people would be to keep the muzzies out.
‘They gave us...’
They as in Bush working hand in hand with the dems. Thats who ‘they’ are.
I'm also old enough to have seen first hand how unions destroyed the steel and auto industries, how they are wrecking education... And yes I realize there are multiple factors contributing to these industries' problems, but unions play a huge roll in it. If it were up to me, I'd ban all unions and union activities today, right now.
Back to TSA though... Given airlines' ever deteriorating service, security concerns, and the TSA idiocy I have basically stopped flying. Last time I managed a few days off - to celebrate an anniversary with my wife - I drove 13 hrs each way rather than fly. I've got another trip coming up, actually related to work, and I'm again driving 12 to 13 hours each way rather than fly. Work doesn't care, they allocate a day each way for travel, regardless. Oh, and just like my previous personal trip, I'll have my Glock with me and my safety and security will be in my hands, not someone else's.
No difference in these gub mint employees and any other gub mint agency employees?
Just standing around watching the clock til retirement, accomplishing absolutely ZERO.
Not a lot of respect for the Crotch Gropers Guild.
“THEY” being the federal government.
“THEY” being:
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, different names, same ruling class.
Republican, Democrat, two sides of the came coin.
That is my definition of THEY.
man T-Bone, you and i are on the same page. you sound like a good Texan...
Don’t fly as much as possible. Avoid supporting these incompetent TSA fascists.
This is nothing but a manufactured crisis in the ramp up to the summer travel season. We flew over Mothers Day weekend. ZERO PROBLEM WITH SECURITY LINES. They just want more money and more people. WAKE UP, AMERICA!
To those of us who grew up in blue rustbelt states, this is Standard Operating Procedure.
To those of you in the sunbelt this is probably coming as somewhat of a shock.
This makes a lot of sense to me, as in, why are the lines suddenly so very long?
I flew in and out of LGA all winter without problems there, but now they are talking about needing to go private.
I’m all for whatever approach gets union slugs out of such a critical position.
Yep—our military, truck drivers, taxi drivers, farmers, loggers, construction workers, police, etc., etc., all have far more dangerous jobs.
I fly somewhere three weeks out of 4. Honestly, I hadn't seen ANY increase in security lines anywhere until last week. I flew in and out of O'Hare last Wednesday. It was RIDICULOUS!
The wait time in the TSA pre-check line was 30-40 minutes. The "regular" line was easily 200 yards long. I can't imagine how long it must have taken.
The crazy thing was: All security lines seemed to be open and there were PLENTY of TSA agents working. I don't know what they could do to speed it up.
Thank you for calling me a good Texan; there’s a FReeper who recently called me a bad Texan and I think even asked that I move out of the state!
It hurt my delicate self esteem.
But to the point: Vocally and loudly harassing the TSA people costs us nothing. It takes very little effort. It most likely will not result in arrest or even delay.
Every time I do it, I reach about 50 people. If 10% of them are receptive, then I have turned 5 people. I do not see a downside; if I have influence those folks then I am honored - It’s my duty as a freedom-loving American.
It doesn’t take much time or effort to overhear them talking enthusiastically about their next break. They rotate through their posts more often than Vegas blackjack dealers for no apparent reason and even the most zealous TSA union member or sympathzer is unable to explain the ratio of those ‘working’ to those standing around doing naff all while on the clock.
The flier’s unlikely anti-TSA ally may be the airlines themselves. They sweat blood trying to optimize revenue per flight and to compete. Most people will rightly blame the TSA for the problems but the airlines have precious few seats available to make up for missed flights and therefore are taking their share of criticism which they no doubt regard as unfair. Their air crews hate the TSA as much as we do despite special screening lanes.
Economically, if the airlines decide that airport XYZ is a money loser due to the security farce, they will reduce flights. This will put pressure on the airport itself and the local transit authority who will see tax and fee revenue decrease. Perhaps government vs government, bureaucrat vs bureaucrat is the only hope of a breakthrough.
The TSA is helping make a lot of Trump voters.
As a side note, I know of a young man who was turned down by TSA when he applied for a job. It is scary to see those who have been hired and to think that he was not!
Question: Was he underweight for the job. I have seen the heaviest loads, of both sexes, on the job with TSA.
Finally, TSA is a union job and that's what you get.
Decertify the union and you will see an improvement in service.
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