TSA Workforce Act Mandates Title 5 Conversion by 2025, Securing Standard Federal Benefits and Labor Rights

This bill, the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act, is a massive overhaul of how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) manages its people. Essentially, it scraps the TSA’s current, unique personnel system and forces the agency to transition all its employees—from screeners to air marshals—into the standard federal employment system, known as Title 5 of the U.S. Code. This conversion must be fully completed by December 31, 2025 (Sec. 3(e)).

For the average TSA employee, this is a huge deal. It means they will finally gain the standardized pay scales, job protections, and due process rights enjoyed by the rest of the federal workforce. The bill immediately freezes the TSA’s ability to change its current personnel policies the moment the bill becomes law, ensuring a stable environment during the transition (Sec. 3(b)). The key promise here is protection: employees won’t see their pay or service time reduced because of this shift (Sec. 4(a)).

The End of TSA’s Special Rules

For over two decades, the TSA has operated under its own set of personnel rules, often criticized for lacking the protections afforded by Title 5. This bill ends that. The conversion date is the ultimate deadline, after which all those special TSA systems and directives—including the one governing collective bargaining known as the “2022 Determination”—are repealed (Sec. 3(e)).

This shift brings immediate, tangible changes. For instance, Screening Agents—the people checking your bags and IDs—will gain full collective bargaining rights under Chapter 71 of Title 5 within 90 days of the bill’s enactment (Sec. 3(f)). This means their union representatives will have a much stronger seat at the table during national negotiations, though local agreements still require sign-off from both the union and the local Federal Security Director (Sec. 5(c)). This is a significant upgrade in labor power for a critical workforce.

Protecting the Paycheck and the Clock

One of the biggest concerns during any system change is whether employees will lose money or accrued benefits. This bill provides clear guarantees. If you’re a covered employee, your adjusted basic pay and law enforcement availability pay are locked in and cannot decrease when you switch to the new Title 5 pay scale (Sec. 4(a)). Your time served under the old TSA pay bands also counts toward your seniority and pay steps in the new General Schedule system (Sec. 4(a)).

The bill also ensures that benefits like annual leave and sick leave earned under the old system carry over (Sec. 4(e)). Furthermore, Federal Air Marshals get specific protections: they are guaranteed to receive their Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) and overtime rates that are at least as good as what they received under the Fair Labor Standards Act (Sec. 4(d)).

Accountability and Workplace Safety Checks

Beyond the pay and benefits, the bill mandates serious oversight to address long-standing issues within the agency. The Comptroller General (CG), Congress's independent watchdog, must conduct several detailed reviews within one year of enactment (Sec. 8).

These reviews will cover:

• Hiring Efforts: Specifically looking at recruitment of veterans and military families.
• Diversity and Promotions: Examining fairness in career advancement and leadership diversity compared to national demographics.
• Workplace Harassment: A crucial review of policies for protecting staff from assault and threats, including those from the traveling public (Sec. 8(c)).

The CG must also solicit feedback, even anonymously, from employees at all levels during these reviews, ensuring that the people on the front lines have a voice in the recommendations sent to Congress (Sec. 8(d)). Separately, the TSA Administrator is required to brief Congress on all assaults and threats against screeners dating back to 2019, detailing how they were reported and handled (Sec. 11).

The Fine Print: What’s Not Changing

It’s important to note what this bill does not do. Section 6 explicitly states that nothing in this Act grants TSA employees the right to strike. Existing federal laws prohibiting strikes by government employees remain fully in effect. Also, while the TSA must consult with employee representatives about the transition, the Secretary ultimately retains the authority to make the final decisions, provided they offer a written explanation for their choices (Sec. 5(e)).

Overall, this bill is a major step toward normalizing the working conditions for a workforce that has been operating under a non-standard system since 9/11. While the administrative burden on the TSA, OPM, and the National Finance Center to execute this conversion by the 2025 deadline will be significant, the outcome is intended to grant TSA employees the same level of security and benefits as their federal counterparts.