TSA officers have a long history of being, well, not pleasant. Quite the opposite, really. It’s a rare passenger who hasn’t encountered TSA officers they’ve deemed as rude. They yell at passengers. They’re impatient. They don’t explain things adequately. They have little compassion for people who don’t understand because of a language or comprehension barrier. There’s questioning if their sense of authority goes to their heads. And they’re as inconsistent as can be.
Not all of them are like that, of course. Some are pleasant. You’ll even sometimes encounter a TSA officer who smiles. But unfortunately they’re more the exception than the rule.
And in a way, I get it. TSA officers have to deal with a lot. They have a high pressure job, where they’re the first defense in keeping the country’s skies safe. They have to do that job as quickly as possible. And they have the deal with the public who, let’s face it, don’t always have their best foot forward, either. They also have to work within a system where there are few career growth opportunities, and “surprise” mandatory overtime at the end of one’s shift isn’t rare.
One other issue that may have been affecting TSOs’ job satisfaction is pay rate. Current pay for a TSO is $21.98 to $29.22 per hour, based on location. TSA agents are historically some of the lowest-paid government workers out there, according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the country’s largest federal employee union.
However the AFGE just announced what they are calling an historic victory: TSA officers will be getting an average 30% pay raise, as well as expanded rights under Title 5.
The pay raise has been discussed for months and on December 29th, President Biden signed into law the 2023 omnibus government funding bill that funds the pay hike for TSOs. The $398 million allotted to the agency to improve the pay and bargaining rights for TSOs will begin on July 1, 2023.
From AFGE: “The move towards better pay and improved rights on the job is a positive development for an agency that has long been plagued by low retention, high turnover, and difficulties in attracting employees.”
Of course, we all know that a job can pay great and employees might still be unhappy if they see no option to go up the company ladder, if the work environment causes undue stress, or their work/life balance is poor. But hopefully with this pay increase that will prop TSOs up to the financial level of their government employee peers, it will be the first step towards feeling respected.
And hopefully this will translate into kinder, gentler TSA officers.
We can only hope.
Feature Photo: DHS/Jeanne Mattison/TSA
H/T: AFGE
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