Formal spec vs delivered software - there's a similar case here. In any real world organization, the formal written mission and rules are not exactly the ones that are in operation. Unionization especially public-sector unionization further disconnects employees from the rules and the techniques they are _supposed_ to follow. Now this could go either way, but considering the psychopaths and bums that the TSA hires, and the numerous cases we know of theft, I would say that unionization makes things worse with the rules and techniques.
I've never encountered a situation where I was annoyed at TSA because they didn't follow the "formal spec" properly, and wished they had followed it better. In fact, quite the contrary: I have, very occasionally, had places where the TSA let something slide that they officially shouldn't have, and made my life slightly easier as a result.
I don't know why you have such a hard time believing me on this....
