TSA union denounces Trump administration’s canceling collective bargaining agreement
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AIRPORT SECURITY OFFICERS DENOUNCE TRUMP ADMIN DUMPING CONTRACT
The local union representing transportation security officers denounced President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday morning outside the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse over its decision to strip employees of collective bargaining rights.
Earlier this month, Secretary Kristi Noem announced the Department of Homeland Security had terminated a contract between the federal government and Transportation Security Administration employees to remove “bureaucratic hurdles” and make the organization more efficient.
Transportation security officers in Northern California are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1230. The union approved a new contract with the federal government last year.
James Mudrock, president of AFGE Local 1230, called Noem’s action a “stab in the backs of officers, many of which are veterans.”
The union filed a federal lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to block the contract’s termination. Airport security officers are covered by the same personnel system that governs most federal employees, known as Title 5.
DHS said eliminating the collective bargaining agreement would modernize the workforce.
“Thanks to Secretary Noem’s action, Transportation Security Officers will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement earlier this month.
Mudrock noted that a majority of airport security officers are union members. Members voluntarily pay dues, he added.
Ending AFGE’s contract is Trump’s first step in his attempt to privatize the TSA, Mudrock said, which is a recommendation included in the conservative policy agenda Project 2025. Mudrock said Trump’s billionaire allies can make a lot of money by replacing the TSA with private security firms.
Those contractors are more likely to cut corners, pay workers lower wages and give employees fewer benefits than unionized federal employees, Mudrock said.
Thomas Regpala, a veteran with over two decades of service with TSA, said the Trump administration’s actions could cost him and his colleagues their jobs. The TSA previously celebrated Regpala for helping a stranded passenger at Sacramento International Airport — now the veteran feels left behind by the federal agency.
“I fear that the billionaires are just waiting in wait to gobble up contracts at airports and throw us to the curb like our big boss threw a puppy into the gravel pit,” Regpala said, referring to Noem’s admission that she killed a family dog she believed was untrainable.
Regpala was joined by Mary Becker, another security officer, and her seven-week-old.
The new mom is currently on parental leave, but Noem’s latest action made Becker fearful that she might lose this benefit, which the union helped secure, while she’s away from work and caring for her newborn.
IT’S NATIONAL SUNSHINE WEEK…
…where press and other advocates highlight the need for open government and public records access. Noted big-government-antagonist Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, took the opportunity Tuesday to highlight some transparency areas where he believes the state government could improve.
DeMaio has a long history of calling for more transparency, dating back to before his time as a San Diego City Councilman.
He set up a collapsible podium outside the Senate chamber to highlight a few bills he’s running: AB 541, which would create a neutral ombudsman to enforce public access to government records, and AB 26, a moonshot bill called the ‘”Eliminate the Politicians’ Perks Act of 2025” that would, among many other things, eliminate exemptions for the Legislature from public records laws.
“Let a neutral third party determine whether a document is so sensitive that the public interest would be benefited by keeping it a secret,” he said.
DeMaio also threw his support behind Assemblymember Joe Patterson’s, R-Rocklin, AB 1370, which would prohibit lawmakers from entering into Non Disclosure Agreements in the process of creating laws. KCRA 3 first reported last year that NDAs were used in the crafting of California’s fast food minimum wage law.
The outspoken Republican said the media should have more access to lawmakers in the Senate, and ballot proposition titles should be more neutral.
DeMaio also weighed in on Monday’s request by Gov. Gavin Newsom to provide the state’s low-income health insurance with an extra $2.8 billion, on top of last week’s loan of $3.4 billion. That brings the total cost-overrun of the Medi-Cal program to $6.2 billion.
“It’s only going to get worse until we see immediate reforms on the program,” he said. The firebrand freshman is calling for California to stop providing Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants.
Top Dems, including Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, have acknowledged hard choices are ahead for balancing the budget. Rivas added they won’t leave immigrant communities behind.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the last four years, fighting for justice and progress for all, and protecting public safety across our state.”
— Attorney General Rob Bonta on launching his 2026 re-election campaign
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Rep. Kevin Kiley extends time at telephone town hall following flood of calls, constituent protests, via Jenavieve Hatch
Gavin Newsom’s office sending cellphones to CEOs to reach California governor ‘directly,’ via Lia Russell
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 4:55 AM.
