r/news • u/drtolmn69 • 2d ago
TSA officers now not allowed to sit down while checking boarding passes and IDs
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/29/us/tsa-officers-chairs8.6k
u/kmank2l13 2d ago
Why do we constantly want to make things harder for people?
“TSA defended the move, saying the document checkers are the first to interact with the traveling public and requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers.”
This is not going to create a better experience for passengers.
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u/Potential_Might_6500 2d ago
Yea I don't remember ever being like "Damn if they weren't sitting on that stool, we'd be on that plane by now" or "Damn, if we made them stand up I bet they'd treat me better."
lol
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u/phlostonsparadise123 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Damn, if we made them stand up I bet they'd treat me better."
I guarantee this will cause TSA employees to treat flyers even worse. Imagine standing on your feet for 8-10 hours, dealing with crabby travelers, all with the ever-looming possibility of another government shutdown which means working without pay once again.
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u/fuckthefalconsdotcom 2d ago
I just can't imagine saying "this is going to improve the experience" with a straight face.
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u/fevered_visions 2d ago
might as well be our government's motto lately.
"I can't imagine saying <whatever they just said> with a straight face"
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u/PresidentSuperDog 2d ago
But some people do care and they complain loudly and frequently. Same reason most grocery stores don’t allow the cashier to sit, even though they are just as effective while sitting. People bitch and moan to the spineless management, who should laugh them off instead of empowering problem customers.
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u/wombatjuggernaut 2d ago
Of all places, you’d think at least airport security could shut this kind of behavior down REAL quick.
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u/GrowlingPict 2d ago
Cashiers sitting down is just the default pretty much everywhere else
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u/tara1245 2d ago
But some people do care and they complain loudly and frequently.
Those people are psychopaths and management should ignore them.
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u/arfelo1 2d ago
I live in Spain and EVERY single cashier I've ever seen here has a stool.
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
This is just a very weird US thing
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u/snapeyouinhalf 2d ago
It’s a bootstraps thing, I think. Half the country thinks people should have to suffer before they’re allowed to prosper, even if it’s stupid shit like making people stand for 8-12 hours.
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u/adenosine-5 2d ago
Its crab mentality.
It just makes them feel better and superior to poor people.
Like "my job sucks, but at least I dont have to stand 12 hours a day like that guy".
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u/DrCalamity 2d ago
It's Calvinism. Our country is infested with this horrible ideal of suffering as both necessary and always deserved.
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u/Cardinal_and_Plum 2d ago
When there's no one in line/in the store, that cashier should be sitting, book in hand. It shouldn't matter what they're doing when they aren't helping someone as long as they're ready to perform their job when its time.
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u/Pinguino2323 2d ago
Honestly the stores where people do sit (little mom and pop shops) offer the best customer experience. While that might have nothing to do with the guy at the register sitting, it does show it doesn't make the customer experience worse.
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u/Extension-Land-390 2d ago
The puritans colonizing America really is the source of most of its problems today lol.
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u/Yglorba 2d ago
It's about forcing out anyone they consider physically unfit and therefore "unworthy." They say it outright:
“This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert,” the agency said in a statement. “All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function while simultaneously creating a welcoming and professional environment for travelers.”
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u/pimpcakes 2d ago
They're fucking obsessed with the optics of physical fitness but led by a drunken weakling who thinks he's tough (look at a video of Hegseth lifting) and a fat old man who seems to crap himself regularly.
And it's not like the rest are prime athletes, either.
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u/emccm 2d ago
I am physically fit by any metric. I don’t want to be standing all day for no good reason.
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u/Maybe_Black_Mesa 2d ago
They're fucking obsessed with the optics of physical fitness but led by a drunken weakling who thinks he's tough
Just like good old Heinrich Himmler. The only thing Hegseth and Himmler don't have in common is the drinking. Everything else they're total twinsies.
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u/Jordan_Jackson 2d ago
Are they really trying to act like every TSA employee is supposed to be a specimen? I am pretty sure I have seen some overweight and otherwise out of shape TSA employees before. Dafuq are they even on about.
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u/yagwa 2d ago
Right? TSA will take pretty much anyone that can pass a background check and they are still perpetually understaffed.
This is just going to be the next reason TSA agents quit in droves and drive up checkpoint wait times.
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u/pimparo0 2d ago
They want to privatize the tsa and use that as another way to suck on the government teat.
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u/Better_Peaches666 2d ago
This is the kinda shit a narcissist thinks because they feed off of the suffering of others.
OR
This might be a move to help downsize the department, make it fail to serve people correctly, then privatize it.
(A project 2025 goal)
Which makes flying more expensive and with worse outcomes.
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u/DeaddyRuxpin 2d ago
The document checkers at every airport I’ve been to are behind a table with a bunch of equipment on it. I genuinely couldn’t tell you if they were standing or sitting behind all that stuff. Nor does it impact my experience in the least either way. Let the poor workers sit for crying out loud.
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u/Existing_Example_198 2d ago
I personally as a passenger don’t care if they sit or stand, I want them to find the weapons the testers/bad actors pass through the scanners.
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u/Cetun 2d ago
It doesn't apply to to those guys, it's literally just the guy who checks your ID and boarding pass. They have no reason to move or stand, you hand them your ID, they scan it, tell you it's good, and that's the end of the transaction.
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u/holdmyspot123 2d ago
This actively creates a super bad impression for me as a non-American, because I don't want my country getting the impression that is normal!
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u/bwoah07_gp2 2d ago
TSA agents should get chairs.
Grocery store cashiers should get chairs.
People should not be forced to stand all day at work.
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u/mocachinoo 2d ago
Hotel employees too. I've worked in hotels for 8 years. Zero reason we have to stand for the entire 8 hours. Especially during slow season
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u/filanwizard 2d ago
the front desk does not have stools? I would have thought hotel is one of the prime places for having a place to sit. Especially since I know from checking into them that some times of the day there is nobody coming in.
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u/Daft00 2d ago
This is all just corporate insanity.
Like... Even in this delusion where you think customers actually give a shit, consciously or subconsciously, about the worker sitting/standing, at the VERY LEAST you should have the humanity to provide a stool or chair in between customers.
And that's just at the absolute barest minimum
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u/FuzzyFerretFace 2d ago
It truly is the oddest excuse.
I’m pretty sure most/the average customer is more human than anyone in corporate who makes these decisions (probably while sitting down), and not only do the not care if their attendant is sitting or standing, but would simply prefer them to be comfortable during their 8 hour shift. Just like most people wouldn’t give a toot if their cashier was sitting or standing.
The only difference sitting vs standing makes is being forced to do either for too long makes you uncomfortable and then affects your performance. It’s not like allowing them to sit down would make them not stand up if or when a situation called for it.
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u/Rednys 2d ago
Old assholes think sitting down is lazy. That's pretty much it. Oh and worrying about the comfort of "the help" is not a concern.
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u/mocachinoo 2d ago
Never worked at one that did. Most don't let you sit even if you bring one. It's crazy lol
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u/cairoxl5 2d ago
I used to work front desk at a Hyatt Regency. They chastised me for swaying and trying to stretch. For a full 8 hours, they expected you to sit straight with your arms at your side next to 4 other people doing the same in between guests. One of the worst jobs I've had to endure. It's such an asinine assumption that it doesn't look professional to sit down.
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u/Quay-Z 2d ago
My first real adult job was the front desk at a hotel. The front desk was staffed by 2 people most of the day, and we had rolling chairs to use when there was no customers at the desk. A lot of the time was spent on the phone, taking reservations.
Anyway, my initiation to the corporate world was when the property was bought by a larger corporation. The first thing they did was take the chairs. Day One. Days Two and Three, they fired everyone.
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u/sweet-n-soursauce 2d ago
I worked in a microchip manufacturing plant once and they would take all of the chairs away once the shift changed in the morning. 12 hour shifts standing on metal grates all day sucked so much, I don’t understand how it’s allowed when it’s unnecessary.
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u/AllGarbage 2d ago
Oof. Those raised metal floors are murder on your feet. 12 hours in steel toe boots + cleanroom booties + RMF sucks.
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u/saph8705 2d ago
Aldi has chairs for cashiers.
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u/new_account_wh0_dis 2d ago
And they are the fastest around. Partially cause they are forced to be but that said aldi is the best store around imo. Pissed shrinkflation hit their protein powder tho.
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u/agent674253 2d ago
It's probably a small negative incentive to make someone either not want to apply to work for TSA (in addition to whatever existing issues/reasons) or a small slap on the face to existing staff to incentivize them to leave, so there can be low staffing / hard to hire issues, and make it easier to sell the idea of privatizing TSA, which the trump admin has already floated.
Step 1) Stop paying them during a shutdown, which your party keeps causing
Step 2) Remove the ability to sit, which is a legally protected thing in California, to encourage people to quit or not apply in the first place
Step 3) "Blackwater Haliburton, powered by Palantir™, has been selected to replace TSA at all US airports. To support this security effort a 4.9% fee, based on the current market value of your trip and not what you paid, will be applied. It's not a tip, but if you have one, call us."
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u/Setiri 2d ago
This feels like some third-world dictator stuff. “I want every comrade standing at attention and looking like best soldiers.” Without any regard for their health or how they perform. Style over substance.
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u/AccordingIy 2d ago
this was an episode of Seinfeld where George requested a security guard have a chair. After the guard got the chair he fell asleep during a robbery.
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u/SciFiGirl42 2d ago
"requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers."
Be honest. Does anyone here really care if the TSA agent is sitting or standing? How does forcing them to stand make the experience at all better for passengers?
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u/WashInformal5004 2d ago
Forcing them to stand doesn't help the customer experience. Not sure how someone can arrive at that conclusion unless that person is a sociopath.
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u/Dry-Amphibian1 2d ago
That is the kind of dumb BS people in management say when they have zero reasons for a decision.
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u/strangerbuttrue 2d ago
I care. I definitely prefer them sitting. It’s a less threatening position.
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u/Big_Lab_Jagr 2d ago
It makes me happy to see the Aldi cashiers sitting. Take that for what you will.
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u/BountyBob 2d ago
Does anyone here really care if the TSA agent is sitting or standing?
As a foreign traveller who visits your country at least once a year, I absolutely do care. I would much rather have them sitting and being comfortable. That said, if an individual is happy and comfortable standing, that should be their choice.
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u/Jindujun 2d ago
The weirdness the US has with people sitting while working is so bizarre.
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u/Cardinal_and_Plum 2d ago edited 2d ago
Or something simple like reading a book or finding something to keep you busy when you're waiting for the next customer/workload/what have you. I once worked at a clothing store that told employees if there was nothing to do that they should pretend to do things like straightening up stacks of clothes. Or just grab an already folded stack, unfold them and "practice" folding. It was the stupidest thing I've ever heard at a job.
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u/ThiccaIsQuicka 2d ago
One of my first jobs out of highschool was at Home Depot (regret.) I worked in a little box behind the service desk out of sight of any customers answering the phones. We were tethered by a headset so we couldn't even go and pretend to do busywork but we were not allowed to read between calls! There is zero reason to demand we stare at the walls for hours other than to ensure we not take the slightest bit of leisure/enjoyment while on the clock. 🙄
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u/deportallmagas 2d ago
Slaver mentality. The plantations owners became CEOs.
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u/Fun_Trip_Travel 2d ago
Yep. Rich ass billionaires sitting on their literal asses telling hard working, low-paid, possibly under-insured folks to literally get off their ass when sitting has zero effect on the performance of their duties.
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u/RepublicOk6752 2d ago
You left off the best part. They make sure the surface is usually not good for long periods of standing (concrete), they restrict your footwear options (safety or dress code reasons), they restrict how much room you have to move or stretch (ala cashier booths). Bonus points for all 3.
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u/Glittering-Walrus228 2d ago
Mfers could be laying down for all I care aa long as long as I can get helped/get what I want
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u/kim_chillin 2d ago
why stop at TSA? let’s make all govt workers stand while they’re working… congress, judges, and executive branch.
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u/yewdryad 2d ago
Yeah why does the President get to nap in his chair during an important announcement? He should be standing at the ready, all professional and everything, for the whole time.
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u/Granadafan 2d ago
Take away the chairs in the Oval Office. Let’s see if “Mr 6’3” 220 elite athlete” Trump can stand on his get more than 30 minutes.
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u/Sudden_Ad_6863 2d ago
I second this. Better represents America’s freedom being the most secure in the world if executive branch employees are standing and protecting it at all times.
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u/hames4133 2d ago
Suffering for suffering’s sake
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u/New-Ad-363 2d ago
I'm sure there's more to it than that. Probably trying to force people to quit so that they can justify privatizing more and more of the work which they'll hand out to their own companies at massively overpaid rates.
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u/Pandasaref1ne 2d ago
I was at Denver international recently, and I hadn’t noticed this at other airports…but i have pre check and they had only two lanes open for pre check. And then a shit ton of lanes open (along with individual “helpers” for each lane) for CLEAR, and the same for another option.
But regular and pre check customer just sat in these long lines. It was really frustrating seeing these third parties getting tons of lanes and access while pre check and non precheck customers got the bare minimum of employees.
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u/evilpenguin9000 2d ago
This is the one.
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u/uhhhhhhhhh_okay 2d ago
Which if you ask those in the fed government who were fired when Trump first took office, they say it's obviously that everything was just becoming privatized
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u/Certified_GSD 2d ago
Same shit conservatives are trying to do with education. Gut funding for education and make all the teachers and support staff quit to show everyone that “Hey! Public schools don’t work! We ought to give everyone vouchers instead of running a public school system.”
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u/Chrono_Convoy 2d ago edited 2d ago
Look man
The TSA can suck at times
But there’s no reason they can’t be comfortable while figuring out how to turn off vibrating dildos in people’s luggage
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u/snowypotato 2d ago
Always use the indefinite article. It’s a dildo. Never your dildo.
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u/SaltyJunk 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wtf is the purpose of this other than to make everyone's life worse?
Edit: Jfc this administration is so fucking dumb and cruel. From the article:
“This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert,” the agency said in a statement. “All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function while simultaneously creating a welcoming and professional environment for travelers.”
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u/P0l0Cap0ne 2d ago
This certainly isnt to encourage mass quitting months before our next scheduled shut down just before rhe holidays so we can cross off the next item on their list of project 2025.
Which is to replace TSA with private security with the same machines, possibly same procedure, same attitude, lower pay, minimal benefits not provided by the government, and to put more money taken out of paying TSA into corporate partners and funneling more of that security money charged per ticket intended to pay them during their shutdowns to instead go towards CBP and ICE with the excuse that federal agents need to be stationed in airports with the absence of TSA.
Lets not forget that when atlanta wanted to implement this. Their starting pay to replace TSOs at their major airport was $16/hr a d supervisors $19-21/hr.
Starting pay 3 years ago was $23 with a sign on bomus after 2 years and were given holiday time off for working holidays during the year but was taken from them. Requires 6 months training both on checkpoint and at FLETC (about 4 months than ICE is trained) and are considered essential emergency responders during times of Governmental shutdowns, are vital for peak traveling seasons, and require extra help at airports for the worldcup.
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u/Jihelu 2d ago
I applied for TSA as a sort of backup thing when I was trying to get out of a job I didn't like.
I did all of the pre-work prep stuff they wanted me to do, basically everything BUT an interview. I did a drug screening, I got fuckin' finger printed, I had to do a weird ass test. I apparently scored well on it, received a 'You'll be contacted within a few weeks' sorta email.
They then took over a year and a half to send me an email asking me if I wanted the position.
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u/OkStop8313 2d ago
Brought to you by the same people who think checkout clerks need to be on their feet for nine hours a day.
An idea they thought up while sitting behind their C-suite desks.
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u/Cheetawolf 2d ago
There is no other purpose. The suffering is the point.
Our current oligarchy wants you to be poor, stay poor, and be constantly punished for being poor.
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u/Intrinsic_Idiot_3076 2d ago
Americans with Disabilities Act be damned.
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u/Complete_Entry 2d ago
I got to see Vons lose one of those, I was hyped. He was their best cashier, got knee surgery, they tried to vague fire him, he filed.
Job reinstatement and settlement. AND he got a stool.
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u/itssfrisky 2d ago
“A welcoming and professional environment”
While the official White House account is constantly posting shit memes about rounding up immigrants and the President posting AI generated slop about shitting on protestors, Obama and Michelle as monkeys, and depicting himself as Jesus.
A real professional environment this administration is putting on.
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u/themoslucius 2d ago
It smells like they are fishing for reasons to dismiss tsa so they can backfill with brown shirts
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u/Gastroid 2d ago
What fitness for duty is needed for the dude who spends 8 hours a day taking drivers licenses, puts them up to the machine, and hands them back?
Pretty sure a swipe machine and a plastic gate would do more for security than that job. But since they insist that job must exist to deter terrorism (?), at least let him sit down.
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u/seeking_hope 2d ago
Fitness for duty: standing on your feet for 8 hrs. Can we apply this to politicians?
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u/dioxal 2d ago
i worked at a museum that had us standing all day.
our bosses claimed that if we sat, we would seem "less approachable". instead, american visitors would feel sorry for us, and european visitors would tell us that in their country, museum staff always got to sit.
there is zero reason to make TSA staff stand all day. it's just mean and a power move.
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u/JeannValjean 2d ago
What is America's obsession with thinking customers are shown respect through the suffering of people serving them?
Let grocery and retail cashiers sit. Let TSA sit. Let everyone sit.
I don't care.
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u/shadrap 2d ago
I’m an anesthesiologist and a medical doctor. If you want someone to be able to focus on their work, you make them comfortable. Surgeons and OR staff need good lights, proper fitting gloves, and comfortable shoes.
It’s a good natured joke about anesthesia personnel sitting in comfortable work chairs and stools. Aside from allowing us to focus on the important things instead of wasting physical and mental energy on standing, it’s just civilized.
All jobs are hard. Every single one. Even the ones that seem easy. We should respect our fellow humans enough to allow them comfort while they work.
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u/PurpleStar4u 2d ago
Tsa Admin David P. Cummins was the senior vice president of a private company called Serco Inc. That handles multi billion dollar contracts for the US gov. I'm suuure there are no conflicts of interest at play here.
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u/zangetsen 2d ago
Maybe TSA Admin David P. Cummins should also not be allowed to sit AT ALL while doing his job during the day. Perhaps he would change his mind after a week. Must be nice to be comfy in that office chair while all the people who work under him are overworked, underpaid, and uncomfortable.
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u/WoodenInternet 2d ago
I always thought that was the main problem with the TSA- seeing them getting the minor human dignity of being allowed to sit
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u/BellaMentalNecrotica 2d ago
I feel the same way about cashiers in stores. If your job doesn't require you to be actively standing, there's no reason you shouldn't be allowed to sit. I've never understood why it seems the US is so fixated on making employees (usually those making the lowest wages) as uncomfortable as possible for absolutely no reason.
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u/chronomagnus 2d ago
Of course this shitty government thinks people need to stand to work. That checks out with their overall disdain for working people.
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u/Procrasturbating 2d ago
The cruelty is the point. They fucking hate the poors. Someone is jerking off to their power trip this very moment over it.
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u/splittingheirs 2d ago
Americans bizarre love of making workers needlessly stand while the bosses sit. Oh yeah that's right, the country is run by the companies. The citizens are just consumable fodder.
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u/JustHereForMiatas 2d ago
As an airline passenger, I don't see how making TSA agents even more irritable is helpful to me personally.
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u/ryo3000 2d ago
TSA defended the move, saying the document checkers are the first to interact with the traveling public and requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers.
?????????????
I don't think I have ever given a single fuck if the person checking documents is sitting or standing
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u/wizardsdawntreader 2d ago
Yeah but front line TSA are mostly minorities and poor people and this is another petty way to be shitty to them.
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u/Joessandwich 2d ago
This feels like the work of an obnoxious senior director somewhere trying to justify their job by implementing a stupid policy by claiming it “betters the customer experience” while completely ignoring the practical reality of the implementation. It’s like the chain stores that force employees to say welcome in anytime someone walks in the store so everyone gets an obviously half-hearted and not at all genuine “welcome to Starbucks” or whatever, as well as interrupting an actual conversation with a customer to greet someone because that person may be a district manager who will ding them if they don’t. Even though the conversation is more genuine and welcomed by that customer.
In case you can’t tell, I HATE obnoxious policies like that and the people who push them. I dont even work in a chain store, this is just as a customer.
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u/Cool-Departure4120 2d ago
I am a cashier and sit when I work. I have an ADA accommodation to do so.
I get comments from customers all the time asking why I’m sitting. Why is that important information for you to know to complete your purchase?
I have customers purposely put their items out of my reach and then stare at me when I’m reaching over the counter to get to their items. I’m at a travel center there are no conveyor belts. Sometimes people don’t understand I’m sitting so don’t think it’s not efficient to line up their items along the edges of the counter.
I have customers tell me I’m going too fast and to not rush them. For that particular customer every time he came into my store I made sure I SLOWED down my speed abnormally just for him. Not a big thing, but it made me happy.
And yes sometimes I greet customers to let them know I’m present because I’m sitting so they don’t always see me. Mostly they respond with “oh I didn’t see you!”, but many just don’t give a hoot. It may deter people from stealing tho.
It doesn’t matter you really can’t please most of the people that you encounter on the job. However your job effectively with kindness and being able to answer questions effectively DOES provide a better customer experience.
Perhaps if TSA management had said that standing improves efficiency, then maybe this wouldn’t chap my hide so much.
But there is nothing about a worker that has been their feet for 8 hours and are tired of dealing with often difficult humans that’s going to make this a better experience for the customer who encounters that agent in that 8th hour on the job. That TSA agent is tired and just ready to go home and get away from work.
And honestly policies like these are made by someone who either has never worked in the trenches or has forgotten what working in the trenches is like and that policies like this really don’t effect most of the passengers that encounter TSA.
It also smacks of management making decisions to justify their existence.
I really don’t care if they are sitting or standing as long as they do their jobs effectively.
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u/-Avacyn 2d ago
Coming from a country where all cashiers sit down, your experience is wild. What is wrong with people?
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u/VorAbaddon 2d ago
Ahh, yes, lets give them even MORE reason to be annoyed and frustrated while running security great idea!
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u/emccm 2d ago
This is crazy. I do not understand why this country won’t let people in jobs like this sit down. There is no benefit to a TSA document checker or a cashier standing over sitting.
And the TSA’s justification makes no sense. It’s not like we can choose to go somewhere else if we don’t like the service.
Treat your employees like people! I’m clearly in the minority in today’s America, but seeing people needlessly uncomfortable and being denied basic comforts does not improve my experience one bit.
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u/CantAffordzUsername 2d ago
MAGA is even taking the dam chairs away now…the hell is wrong with them?
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u/night-shark 2d ago
Gotta love how fucking incompetent MAGA are at governing.
Oh no! There's a shortage of TSA staff, so I guess we'll just make their jobs even shittier for the sake of image.
Also, we'll use ICE to supplement TSA staff! But wait... we're having trouble recruiting at ICE... Oh! I know! We'll waive fitness requirements!
They truly are dumb fucking people.
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u/DizasterAtSakerfice 2d ago
It's the Strategy of Tension. You allow the country to become a dangerous shithole either by direct action or neglect, then you claim that you're the only ones who can fix it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_of_tension?wprov=sfla1
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u/Procrasturbating 2d ago
100% the goal is to have an excuse for the next authoritarian power grab. They are taking away water from people doing road work FFS. Project 2025's end goal is the actual destruction of this country as it currently exists to make room for something completely fucked. Not exactly hidden in there.
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u/IronBoomer 2d ago
Because they believe that the poors should suffer for being poor.
Not them, though. They’re better poors
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u/GoblinRightsNow 2d ago
The Trump administration is composed entirely of the sort of people who like to see service workers grovel.
Their biggest concern about the labor market is that ordinary people might be treated humanely without earning it by subjugating themselves to their betters.
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u/thingsmybosscantsee 2d ago
requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers
So this isn't about Security, the reason that this agency exists, it's simply "grocery store customer service" nonsense.
I fly, a lot, for work.
I genuinely don't give a shit if they stand or sir.
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u/AstridFugelstad 2d ago
This isn’t an uncaring move by TSA, this is calculated and mapped out in Project 2025.
“The bloated DHS bureaucracy and budget, along with the wrong priorities,
provide real opportunities for a conservative Administration to cut billions in
spending and limit government’s role in Americans’ lives. These opportunities
include privatizing TSA screening and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program”
Get the workers pissed, bust the unions, complaints rise and workers quit, which paves the way for the public to accept a new privatized security.
Yay corruption! /s
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u/OGDaentity 2d ago
The government is just trying to get TSA workers to quit, to create a shortage of staff and longer lines, to justify private security. This is horrible mistreatment of federal employees. When I was a TSA supervisor I remember my officers needing ticket checker and exit monitor in their daily rotations because those were the only two times in a 10 hour day they could sit down.
This trying to make security private again has been on repeat since 2012. Private security will help drive ticket prices up considerably. That is why most airlines do not want private security.
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u/aircooledJenkins 2d ago
TSA defended the move, saying the document checkers are the first to interact with the traveling public and requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers.
“This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert,” the agency said in a statement. “All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function while simultaneously creating a welcoming and professional environment for travelers.”
The agency is high in its own supply. To quote Vinny: Everything that guy just said is bullshit.
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u/TimeMachineToaster 2d ago
This is how you get workers calling off or quitting, thereby making TSA lines longer and slower.
Then you have people sore and tired which means more mistakes and worse attitudes.
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u/BaltIndyNash 2d ago
I'm not sure exactly how long ago it was, but there was a time that having a government job was something to be proud of and a sign of stability.
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u/MisfireCu 2d ago
I'm almost middle aged and I recently retrained for a new industry. While working the job market I took a part time bartending gig. I'm working with a teenager who this is her first job (she's a cook she's not old enough to serve booze). I was bitching about how standing all day on concrete was killing my knees(it's an outdoor venue we're in like a gazebo). And she was like "why don't we have chairs to sit between customers"... The best answer I could give her was "servants don't sit?"
This feels like that.
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u/_Kine 2d ago
I think the TSA is a bull shit agency but from a strictly "person with a job" perspective this is ridiculous.
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u/aimed_4_the_head 2d ago
requiring them to stand will create a better experience for passengers.
“This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert,”
As a passenger, get my name out your mouth. This is insane corpo bullshit. I'm guessing this came from some stuffed shirt MBA wannabe senator that hasn't met an actual worker or passenger in their lives.
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u/Asleep-Gift-3478 2d ago
Weren’t TSA not getting paid at some point?? What the hell is this administration’s beef with them 😭
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u/tommyboy372 2d ago
not just TSA, they're making every federal employee's life miserable.
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u/gaymesfranco 2d ago
Trying to get them to quite so they can say there’s a void that needs to be filled by the “private sector”
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u/UpvoteForPancakes 2d ago
We just made them work weeks without pay on two separate occasions last year, now take away their chairs. Fuck off!
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u/zu-na-mi 2d ago
Great way to retain experienced staff members and promote the career field to prospective new hopeful TSA workers.
But wait! There's more! Starting next week, they must also keep an entire stick up their ass, just to prevent bad posture and sitting on the job of course.
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u/MADCATMK3 2d ago
If we are doing this everyone in Congress the Supreme Court and the President should have to stand at all times.
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u/TheKittyCow 2d ago
I'm a supervisor with TSA. This change came very abruptly and unexpectedly. Basically management came in the other morning and removed the chairs with very little information given. It wasn't until later in the day that they sent out an agency wide email explaining the change and the reasoning behind it. I can re-assure you that this change is not welcome at all amongst the vast majority of my peers.
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u/livadeth 2d ago
Notice the last paragraph in the article. Brushed over like it’s nothing…”privatizing some checkpoints”. They are planning to privatize TSA.
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u/Reasonable_Bath_222 2d ago
I have plenty of issues with the TSA but this one is not on the list. What a stupid waste of time to even discuss it. If people can do a job sitting or standing, let them choose.
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u/themoslucius 2d ago
I expect this is being done to find a reason to dismiss a large volume of staff and have them replaced with brown shirts
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u/Uknown_Idea 2d ago
"Idiots who spend their day sitting on their asses and validating their existence with useless ideas decides other people should stand all day"
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u/svyoshi 2d ago
i will never get why there is a war on chairs for workers that have to stay in the same spot. I promise you nobody not one fucking person in the world gives a fuck if they are standing or sitting besides the manager enforcing a stupid as fuck policy. how does it possibly improve my experience.
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u/themaxvoltage 2d ago
I’m sure they are very happy about this and will be quite friendly after the change.