TSA agreed to its first contract last week with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). So far, the collective bargaining is somewhat limited, with wages still being set by the general schedule. But James Sherk, senior policy analyst in labor economics for The Heritage Foundation, doubts it will stay that way. "While the collective bargaining starts limited, there is a history and a pattern of it tending to expand," he points out. "And if the unions engaged in any sort of work stoppage or labor action start to gain more leverage, that could put national security at risk." He notes that Canada has seen similar issues. "It was Thanksgiving of 2006, and the screeners union was just not happy with the state of contract negotiations," Sherk recalls. "What they did was a work-to-rule, where they had their members do exactly what the procedures called for, and anytime they suspected there was a threat of anything in a carry-on bag, which in this case meant every carry-on bag, they inspected it by hand. Lines grew out of control, and people were missing their flights. Eventually, the managers just came in and waived a quarter-million people onto their flights with no screening of them or their luggage." The analyst says there will be no way to improve the productivity, efficiency or effectiveness of TSA going forward, as there is no competition in government, which also happens to be the new growth field for unions. Meanwhile, private sector membership has been declining. A statement by the AFGE declares that "contrary to some of the misinformation circulating about TSA, an agreement will not adversely affect security." It further adds that security-related matters were strictly excluded from the negotiations. The Obama administration has prohibited screener strikes, but Sherk points out that government unions often strike illegally. For instance, he notes the recent Detroit teachers and New York City transit strikes. And even if they do not formally strike, unions can still engage in work slowdowns, as was seen in Canada in 2006.