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Los Angeles—Concerned about the financial burden that further costs can pose to an already underpaid workforce, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is seeking to rollback a planned increase to employee parking rates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The costs would hit Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees especially hard.

Under the plan, parking rates will double from $15 to $30 per month at one employee parking lot, while jumping sharply from $30 to $124 per month at another. The plan was approved by LAX’s Board of Airport Commissioners in October and is set to take effect on Feb. 1.

“Asking TSA employees, who are among the lowest-paid workers in the federal government, to accept huge increases in their monthly parking costs is unacceptable,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “The airport authority needs to recognize how this increase will hurt these frontline workers.”

The basic structure of the TSA pay system is low. Entry-level salaries starting at $24,000 per year make Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), as a group, among the lowest paid federal employees. According to the Congressional Budget Office, TSOs are paid roughly $1,700 per year less than their counterparts in many other federal agencies.

Other airport groups, including pilots and ground personnel, also have voiced their complaints about the proposed fee hike to NTEU, Kelley added. The union has been circulating a petition among LAX employees for weeks protesting the rate hike, and NTEU representatives hope to present the signed petition to Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) officials later this month. The authority’s next public meeting is scheduled for Jan. 25.

“Hundreds of TSA employees have already signed the petition, along with other workers who are also facing this rate hike. The widespread dissatisfaction with the parking rate increases should push LAWA officials to rethink their decision and its economic impact on airport employees,” President Kelley said.

Aside from unfair parking costs, other critical issues impacting TSA employees at LAX include unfair treatment in the workplace on key issues such as leave usage and scheduling; attrition rates that are too high, a pay system that is not seen as fair and credible, and low workforce morale.

NTEU TSA members at LAX are part of a growing NTEU network of thousands of members at more than 40 airports nationwide. NTEU is aggressively pursuing a five-point plan that will strengthen TSA by securing collective bargaining rights for TSA employees; eliminate the unfair pay system; put in place adequate staffing and a fair scheduling system; improve training; and grant TSA employees full whistleblower rights.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.