The starting pay is about $34,000 a year with no automatic pay raises based on tenure. They are on the front line in the battle against terrorism but don’t carry a gun. Their employer is routinely the punch line of jokes on late-night television shows.Such is the life of a Transportation Security Administration screener.“Every now and then, we get thanked by the public, but for the most part, it’s a pretty thankless job,” said Bobby Orozco Jr., a TSA screener at Los Angeles International Airport.With U.S.