ORLANDO, Fla. – A cohort of federal workers convened Monday morning in Orlando for a roundtable hosted by U.S. Congressman Darren Soto.
That included American Federation of Government Employees federal union representative and TSA security officer John Hubert, who works out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
He spoke out about the Department of Homeland Security’s decision Friday to end collective bargaining for TSA’s transportation security officers.
“For somebody to come and unilaterally remove something that has been negotiated, a signed contract, is a slap in the face to all 47,000 TSA officers in this country,” said Hubert.
Hubert also spoke to Local 10 News’ Christian Vazquez.
“I want the community to know that the TSA officers do want their contract, so this action shocked a lot of people,” he said. “They want their union to still represent them. They actually have no security now and now people are starting to fear what would come next. We also lost grievance right, there is no defense for the workers now, there is no way for them to stand up for themselves now and AFGE to represent them in an official manner.”
Local 10 also spoke to labor and employment attorney Mark Berkowitz, who did not mince words.
“It is blatantly illegal,” he said. “A collective bargaining agreement is a sacred contract that has been entered into by both management and labor, and the employer cannot just unilaterally just cancel out that agreement. The recourse is, I am sure the union will do this, is to file an unfair labor practice with the Federal Labor Relations Authority in Atlanta, and I am confident that will happen and that will be the next fight over this issue.”
He continued: “I think the problem is the administration doesn’t have any respect for the rule of law. I am confident that the Federal Labor Relations Authority will enter a finding of unfair labor practice and then there will be a hearing before the Federal Relations Labor Authority by an administrative law judge and then before a full board. And then, after that, if it still needs to be litigated, it will go to the court of appeals for a determination.”
The DHS’ decision to unilaterally strip the transportation security officers -of their choice to join a union came days after a federal judge ruled the mass firings of thousands of federal probationary workers was “unlawful, invalid, and must be stopped and rescinded.”
“The TSA workforce does not need to have distractions,” said Hubert.
The AFGE believes the decision by DHS was done in retaliation.
“The safety of the traveling public is at risk now because people are not secure in their occupations anymore and this could cause a huge problem,” said Hubert.
Added Berkowitz: “I am very concerned there will be a loss of safety and a loss of proper procedures when there is a loss of morale in the workforce. The perspective of the administration may be that they want to privatize this function, maybe that is their goal, their game plan, but I think it is very dangerous. TSA had a done a great job since 9/11 when it was instituted after 9/11. They have done a great job keeping our country safe and I think they should have a department of gratitude for the job that they have done and not be subjected to unlawful unilateral actions by the government.”
Hubert was asked if workers are in fear of losing their jobs during a Zoom interview with Local 10 News.
“Absolutely, that is definitely on the table, these workers feel the protections are all lost,” he said. “They are now at will employees. It serves as another distraction to their job that they are supposed to be doing, now their employment is uncertain, the agency hasn’t come out with any guidance. The officers voted in AFGE to represent them and create a record-long seven-year contract last year, and it was effectively thrown in the trash. This was voluntary, being part of the union is not mandatory, these dues paying members, those of which chose for us take dues for them, they volunteered, a choice, and now we have to find another way to collect dues from them to continue fighting for them in federal court. This is a travesty, a sad day.”
And Hubert said he worries the Trump administration may try to strip other federal workers of their choice to join labor unions.
“But it is very disturbing that the administration thinks it has the unilateral authority to cancel or aggregate a collective bargaining agreement,” said Berkowitz. “They are explicitly trampling on employee rights in the most egregious way. It is very disturbing, we want to keep their morale up, but I am very worried that this is going to be operating procedure for the government to try to take away worker’s rights and cancel collective bargaining agreements in other agencies as well. They think they can do whatever they want, they don’t think the law applies to them, they don’t think they are restricted or limited by the rule of law, so unfortunately that’s their perspective. But I think they are going to get a rude awakening with the Federal Labor Relations Authorities, I don’t think this is going to stand.”
Hubert says 20% of their workforce are veterans and all of this comes ahead of May’s start of REAL ID enforcement before the start of summer travel season.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
TSA reminds public of REAL ID enforcement deadline of May 7, 2025: https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/02/06/tsa-reminds-public-real-id-enforcement-deadline-may-7-2025#:~:text=Signs%20are%20currently%20posted%20at,.gov%2Freal%2Did.
AFGE: “Eliminating TSA Officers’ Union Is Clear Retaliation Against Union: https://www.afge.org/publication/eliminating-tsa-officers-union-is-clear-retaliation-afge-says/
DHS Ends Collective Bargaining for TSA’s Transportation Security Officers: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/03/07/dhs-ends-collective-bargaining-tsas-transportation-security-officers-enhancing
READ THE ORDER: “The preservation of the rights in the Constitution and the legality of the process by which government agencies function certainly weighs heavily in the public interest.” https://altshulerberzon.com/wp-content/uploads/ECF-045-Memorandum-Opinion-and-Order.pdf
Links to complaint: https://altshulerberzon.com/2025/02/27/federal-district-court-finds-opms-order-to-federal-agencies-to-fire-thousands-of-probationary-federal-employees-was-illegal/
“The coalition of plaintiffs on the case include the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Main Street Alliance; the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; the Common Defense Civic Engagement; the Western Watersheds Project; AFGE Local 1216; AFGE Local 2110; VoteVets; and United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). They are represented by the law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP and the State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF).”
What AFGE Is Doing: A Recap of AFGE’s Major Actions Against Trump’s Attacks on Civil Service: https://www.afge.org/article/what-afge-is-doing-a-recap-of-afges-major-actions-against-trumps-attacks-on-civil-service-2/