CAMERON COCHEMS (HE/HIM)
Transportation Security Administration lead officer and Idaho regional vice president for AFGE TSA Local 1127
Boise, Idaho
TSA workers are exhausted and concerned. Not only did they have to worry about not getting paychecks for months, now the Trump administration wants to privatize the TSA. When we see them going after different agencies, we’re like, “They’re picking us all off one by one.” What we have to do is come together and stick together. In the West, there’s a lot of anti-union and anti-federalist feeling, so being a part of a union and the federal government and still being able to succeed in Idaho speaks volumes. A lot of people who aren’t involved in unions want to be supportive: We’ve gotten thousands of dollars in gift cards, and an empanada place, Tangos, had a free food day for us. All across Idaho, we’ve had donations like that. It’s heartwarming; it makes me feel like there still is community and people do care about each other.
We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
This article appeared in the June 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “#IAMTHEWEST.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
