On Wednesday, members of the Association of Flight Attendants marched with signs in front of Terminal 2 at the San Diego International Airport. The union members were calling for an end to contract negotiations.
Rallying alongside them about a different contract were off-duty transportation security officers (TSO) — members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) — who work for the Transportation Security Administration.
On March 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ended collective bargaining for TSOs.
"These are the people people have to realize that protects you every day when you're traveling. These are the people that are making sure that nothing prohibited is in these bags, or making sure that you get to your destination safely," said Nyreen Washington, a TSO and member of AFGE.
An AFGE spokesperson said while it’s illegal for federal employee unions to strike, they will continue to do informational pickets off duty.
"TSOs are scared. They're nervous. They're worried about their livelihood. "You know, ultimately, as we all know, they're trying to lead towards privatization of TSA. That would mean lower wages," Washington said.
The union filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on March 13 alleging DHS unlawfully terminated a negotiated contract that protects about 47,000 TSOs nationwide.
"It was negotiated between TSA and AFGE and it was something that is legally binding. So for them to just take that away from us after so many years of hard work is egregious at best," Washington said.
In a statement published on March 7 DHS said, "Rescinding the collective bargaining agreement will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforces across the nation’s transportation networks."
Washington said the collective bargaining agreement has several important provisions and gives workers a voice.
"A provision in there for childcare because of the TSOs schedules being so crazy. Sometimes people wake up at 1 a.m. just to be here at three in the morning. There was a provision for that. Many things where it stripped away, them able to trade their shifts and be able to do things with their families," Washington said.
An AFGE spokesperson said they hope a judge will reinstate their contract.
