TSA renews push to end collective bargaining agreement for airport security screeners

The Transportation Security Administration is renewing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s push to end a collective bargaining agreement with airport screening officers — the second such attempt this year, coming just a month after the longest government shutdown on record.

The agency said Friday the move relies on a September memo from Noem — issued months after a federal judge blocked her earlier directive — that says TSA screeners “have a primary function of national security” and therefore should not engage in collective bargaining or be represented by a union.

The American Federation of Government Employees swiftly vowed to fight the decision, calling it illegal and a violation of the preliminary injunction issued in June that halted Noem’s first attempt to terminate the contract covering 47,000 workers.

In the September memo cited by TSA, Noem acknowledged the injunction but did not explain why she concluded it did not prohibit her from pursuing the same outcome through a new directive while the case remains pending. The injunction barred TSA from rescinding the union contract or enforcing Noem...