{"id":590,"date":"2026-08-07T10:13:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:13:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:13:43","slug":"union-sues-tsa-over-secret-plan-to-privatize-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=590","title":{"rendered":"Union Sues TSA Over Secret Plan to Privatize Security"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The union for Transportation Security Administration workers sued the federal government late Wednesday night over its plan to privatize airport security, accusing the agency of developing and marketing the plan in secret since at least last August.<\/p>\n

Read more Regulators Finally Poised to Review America\u2019s Biggest Rail Merger<\/a><\/p>\n

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) says that the public only learned of the GoldPlus or Gold+ privatization program \u201cby happenstance,\u201d after someone found a TSA-branded briefing flyer earlier this year at Orlando International Airport and shared it with a Federal News Network reporter, who covered it. The Trump administration is billing the effort as an early-stage pilot program to privatize airport security, which corporate executives have wanted since George W. Bush federalized it in response to 9\/11. Airports that opt in to the pilot program will also hand over their machines and technology to private companies.<\/p>\n

More from Whitney Curry Wimbish<\/em><\/strong> | Zachary Groz <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

TSA only formally disclosed the program to AFGE after the union filed a Freedom of Information Act request in May seeking details about it; the union says in the lawsuit that TSA officials have failed to respond to its document request, which sought information about the purposes of the program and the material that supports its creation, and failed to say when they would complete the request.<\/p>\n

Instead, TSA indicated it would charge the union a $25 processing fee, and then undertook yet more secretive actions that \u201cincrease the urgency of TSA\u2019s response\u201d to the request, the lawsuit states. Among those are the June contract solution for Gold+, the July 20 announcement to TSA workers at Tampa International Airport that the airport would participate in the program, and, on the same day, an announcement to Des Moines International Airport workers that told them their employment was about to change. They would have the option of \u201caccepting employment with the private screening company once selected,\u201d the announcement stated, according to the lawsuit. Or they could be reassigned to another airport with TSA vacancies, pursue other federal positions, or retire.<\/p>\n

AFGE told the Prospect<\/em> that it had also been disturbed to learn of another step the government took in secret. A month after the Federal News Network published its story, the Trump administration held an \u201cindustry day\u201d on May 21 at TSA headquarters in Springfield, Virginia, to bring together government officials, airline and airport executives, and hundreds of representatives from corporations that stand to gain from privatization. According to records the federal government published on its procurement website, attendees included representatives from Palantir and Amazon; airports BWI Thurgood Marshall, Philadelphia International, Seattle-Tacoma International, and JFK International Air Terminal LLC, an affiliate of the Dutch private company that runs JFK\u2019s Terminal 4; and American Airlines and United.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a shame that TSA continues to operate in secrecy over their unnecessary privatization plans that will put the safety of the flying public in jeopardy. AFGE learned of this secret industry day after the fact, and we expressed our displeasure to TSA over our exclusion from participating as privatization affects a significant portion of our members,\u201d an AFGE spokesperson told the Prospect<\/em>. \u201cTSA committed to notifying the union when the next industry day is scheduled.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit requests that the court direct TSA to give AFGE all wrongfully withheld documents. TSA did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT TRUMP WANTS TO RETURN<\/strong> airport security to the private sector and the days before 9\/11, as the Prospect<\/em> reported on Monday, via two programs, the Gold+ program and the Screening Partnership Program. Under Gold+, private contractors will handle passenger security screening as well as the machines that scan people and baggage to detect weapons and other prohibited material. Airports in Charleston, South Carolina; Des Moines, Iowa; and Tampa, Florida, are the first to sign up. Airport officials in Tampa say contractors will be selected by September and security will be fully privatized by next May.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration also proposed to hugely expand the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which allows airports to contract with private companies for security screening. Twenty airports do so now; the administration\u2019s proposal would force all small and non-hub airports to do the same, increasing the number to about 220. At the same time, the administration\u2019s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget would fire 8,400 TSA officers and replace only about half with contracted workers.<\/p>\n

Read more Weaponizing the Missile Shortage<\/a><\/p>\n

Both AFGE and the Association of Flight Attendants say the plan endangers workers and passengers alike. They note that the plan is part of an overall project to crush organized labor and follows the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to eliminate TSA workers\u2019 collective-bargaining rights in 2025, and forcing them to work through the federal government shutdown without pay for more than a month earlier this year, leading some to have to turn to food banks to survive.<\/p>\n

The most significant aspect of the privatization is the Gold+ plan to transfer equipment and technology to the private sector, industry lobbyists and federal contract experts told the Prospect<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The federal government is making close to $13 billion available for the Gold+ program, and opening it up to a vast array of new contractors, beyond the roughly 20 preapproved through the SPP, which anticipates a more modest budget of $800 million this year. Even that figure is still about triple SPP\u2019s budget in previous years, when it hovered around $286 million annually.<\/p>\n

THE LIST OF COMPANIES THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION<\/strong> has preapproved to get a piece of the money is a rogues\u2019 gallery of military contractors. Some also have contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising the possibility that they will share passenger information as part of Trump\u2019s mass deportation campaign. But security experts told the Prospect<\/em> that was more likely an added bonus, and that contractors have wanted a piece of TSA ever since Bush instituted post-9\/11 reforms.<\/p>\n

From the industry\u2019s perspective, the project means airports will have access to cutting-edge technology, said Steve Amitay, executive director and general counsel of industry lobbyist National Association of Security Companies. While SPP only provides workers, Gold+ gives the screening machines and technology to the contractors using them. In some instances, he said, a company may win a Gold+ contract and decide the screening machines are adequate, then have the ability to quickly swap them out for the latest advancement. Others will go into an airport and decide \u201cthis stuff is trash,\u201d he told the Prospect<\/em>. \u201cPart of our bid, we\u2019re going to upgrade \u2026 to better equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser, meanwhile, likened it to a scenario where the government pays for F-35 jets, sells them to a private company, then rents them back. That move is difficult for the public to monitor and appears to be an easy way for companies to grift.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the rate is the same, if you\u2019re not just paying for the contracting work by people but also lending out, or selling and then renting back the machines,\u201d he told the Prospect<\/em>, \u201cthe more different times money goes back and forth, the more opportunity for private profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second story in a series on TSA privatization. Read the first one<\/em> here<\/em>. Send tips to <\/em>wwimbish@prospect.org<\/em> and zgroz@prospect.org<\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Dorothy Day: Saint Radical<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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The American Federation of Government Employees says the Trump administration hid its plan to turn airport security over to private companies like Palantir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[289],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transportation","tag-tagged-afge-dhs-donald-trump-federal-government-labor-privatization-transportation-tsa-unions"],"yoast_head":"\nUnion Sues TSA Over Secret Plan to Privatize Security - Frontier Housing Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Union Sues TSA Over Secret Plan to Privatize Security - 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