Earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended a recent collective bargaining agreement involving Transportation Security Administration workers and a union for government employees, which predictably prompted a lawsuit to block Noem's action.

On Monday, a federal judge in Washington state sided with the workers and the union and ruled that Noem had violated constitutional rights and federal law in how she rescinded the CBA, MSNBC reported.

In issuing a preliminary injunction to block Noem's effort, the judge asserted that the secretary violated the First Amendment by retaliating against the unionized workers, violated the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act's prohibition against "arbitrary and capricious" rule changes.

Noem sought to end collective bargaining agreement for TSA workers

It was on March 7 that DHS announced in a press release that Sec. Noem had ended the collective bargaining agreement reached last year between the TSA's Transportation Safety Officers and the American Federation of Government Employees union.

The stated reasons for nixing that agreement included that it didn't align with or support the TSA's overarching mission to keep air travel safe, didn't effectively represent all workers, was being exploited by "poor performers," and was being abused by TSA workers who ignored their actual taxpayer-funded jobs to instead work full-time on union issues, among other things.

"Effectively immediately, at the direction of DHS Secretary Noem, TSA is rescinding the 2022 determination granting the ability to engage in collective bargaining, and the AFGE is no longer the exclusive representative of any personnel carrying out screening functions," the TSA's then-Acting Administrator Adam Stahl wrote in a memo.

Stahl added, "This decision aligns with the administration’s vision of maximizing government productivity and efficiency and ensuring that our workforce can respond swiftly and effectively to evolving threats."

"Thanks to Secretary Noem’s action, Transportation Security Officers will no longer lose their hard-earned dollars to a union that does not represent them. The Trump Administration is committed to returning to merit-based hiring and firing policies," a DHS spokesperson said at the time. "This action will ensure Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforce across the nation’s transportation networks. TSA is renewing its commitment to providing a quick and secure travel process for Americans."

Judge determines Noem likely violated constitutional rights

Shortly thereafter, the AFGE led a coalition with other labor unions in filing a lawsuit to block Sec. Noem's effort to end the CBA with TSA workers, and on Monday, they finally got what they wanted in the form of a preliminary injunction issued by a Clinton-appointed judge in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman.

In her 41-page order, Pechman wrote, "The Court here finds that an injunction must issue to preserve the rights and benefits that the 2024 CBA confers to TSOs pending resolution of this litigation."

"AFGE has demonstrated a strong likelihood that the Noem Determination constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers," she continued. "AFGE has shown the Noem Determination likely violates Due Process, having afforded no notice or process for AFGE and its members to work with DHS and TSA to resolve any disagreement before simply shredding the contractual promises of the CBA."

"And AFGE has shown it is likely to succeed in showing the Noem Determination is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, particularly given its complete disregard for the 2024 CBA and its mischaracterization of AFGE’s role," the judge added.

Preliminary injunction granted

In the end, Judge Pechman barred DHS and TSA from "Enforcing, implementing, or otherwise giving effect to" Sec. Noem's recission of the 2024 CBA, from denying plaintiff members of their ostensible rights under that agreement, and from "enforcing or implementing" any of the "termination of functions, processes, and obligations" included in that agreement.

Further, the judge ordered DHS and TSA to "immediately notify" all relevant parties that the "2024 CBA remains applicable and binding" and that no changes to that agreement will be made while the lawsuit proceeds on the merits, the pendency of a likely appeal notwithstanding.