TSA screeners picket for their jobs

ORLANDO, Fla. — Update:  Transportation Security Officers are manning a picket line at Orlando International Airport ahead of a vote today that could imperil their jobs at Florida’s busiest airport. TSA union leaders planned to picket outside of Terminal A before the board meeting at 2 p.m.

A vote Wednesday by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Board could put over one thousand TSA workers on notice their employment is coming to an end.

The board is considering whether to move to a private security firm that, under guidance of the TSA, would man the security checkpoints and handle lines of travelers at Florida’s busiest airport.

Because of training, the change would take two years, but almost immediately TSA workers will be told their jobs are ending.

They would have options of applying to the private firm, retiring or transfering to another U.S. airport like Tampa or further away.

“These are jobs that come with health insurance, life insurance, retirement and annual leave and sick leave, benefits that come with good working class jobs,” said J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

He spoke with reporters outside the Orange County Administration building in downtown Orlando as dozens of screeners picketed for their jobs.

“There are over 11 hundred transportation security officers that work over at the airport,” he explained.

The TSA is staying neutral, since it will not be supplanted as the lead security agency, but may have to work with a private government contractor, if the GOAA board votes for the change.

But the workers are not standing silent.

They say this will hurt the economy. “We’ve been there before with privatized screeners,” said Cox, who said that the attack on 9-11 “shut this country down and yes, even shut the gates to Walt Disney World.”