Curtis Boggs situation resolved...

Well, only time will tell. We can tell you this: after the incident the TSO involved was to have a meeting with Anthony Nguyen and Curtis Boggs. Nguyen pulled the typical stall tactic of trying to claim he was too busy to attend, so he palmed it off on one of the floor supervisors.

Apparently Curtis Boggs was reprimanded by an STSO from the SCC as well as Terence Cunningham before this meeting even took place. At the meeting Curtis Boggs said to the TSO he abused, "I would like to apologize over the phone, but since I'm not that kind of person, here I am and I wanna apologize personally. I wanna apologize for yelling at you."

The floor supervisor who mediated the meeting gave Curtis Boggs a verbal and written warning and it is going on file. The TSO received a copy of the incident report as well.

The TSO feels vindicated and got what they wanted and all we can say is congratulations!

Hopefully we all can learn from this TSO. Do not allow superiors to abuse you. You do not have to take it. If it happens, be professional and not make a scene. Be proactive and take the necessary actions to resolve it to your satisfaction. We're all people and we all make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes need to be resolved formally and other times not so.

Shift Differential, Where is it, and why are we not getting it?

According to page 16, on the TSA RFP information sheet, we should be receiving the following:

Night/shift premium of 10% for any hours worked between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Sunday premium of 25% for any hours worked on Sundays.

Night/shift premium and Sunday premium if worked concurrently (10% night and 25% Sunday, for a total of 35%.)

Double pay for holidays worked.

Overall, we would be far better off with this plan than the one that is currently in place.

As you can see, our wonderful Union has done a spectacular job of selling us short. How could they not be aware of this? This is something that we have a big problem with! This proves that CAS and the Union are in bed together!

Once again, why are we paying them?

Promotion news?

Has anyone heard anything about what is going on with promotions? As far as we know no one has been interviewed for the Checkpoint or CTX positions. Mr.Sanchez is on jury duty, so does that mean that the world stops? Is he the only one that will be deciding that it will be "business as usual?" Has anyone in either community heard a word? We keep asking questions, but get no answers. Let's try something new, how about you treating us the way you would expect us to treat you? What a novel idea! Are there any takers? Who will step up and show us that things have changed? Will it be you, Mr Filbert, or you, Mr.Perkins?

Once more with feeling

Two weeks ago we demonstrated that CAS was at it again with their ineptitude and bone-headed decision making by rejecting DFOs for the checkpoint lead position. Prior to that, they made the similar decision with DFOs for the checkpoint supervisor position. Fortunately, they came to their senses and reversed that decision.

Well, they're at it once again. This time it's for our brethren in the BSR (baggage screening room). Without getting into too much detail, they're the guys that decide whether or not a bag that has alarmed the EDS machines if the bag needs to be inspected. At SFO, they're classification is CTX 9000 Specialist. They are, in TSA terms, OSARP (onscreen alarm resolution protocol) certified. It's a position that CAS created in order to maximize their skills. In TSA terms, they're really CTX TSOs. So they are just as qualified as any of their non-OSARP certified CTX TSO counterparts in terms of screening of checked bags.

What's especially interesting is that baggage ATM Gerardo Sanchez (a useless idiot if we've ever met one) spoke to one CTX 9000 Specialist for over an hour and a half berating him for not having applied for the checked baggage supervisor position. The irony of that situation is that someone else from the BSR did in fact apply for the position and received a rejection letter because they didn't meet the classification requirements! Once again, REALLY?! CAS really wants to go down this idiotic road again?!

Why we are surprised about this, puzzles even us. We shouldn't be surprised, yet we are. Well, to all of our BSR brethren, as Bill Clinton used to say, "We feel your pain."

The "Original screeners that are still here."

That number gets inflated all the time! An accurate head count is in the neighborhood of 250 Plank owners, plus or minus 15. Let's put this attempt at painting a rosy picture to rest. How about a reality check? Let's ask the EAC to count how many Plank owners we have and post it somewhere, what do you think? We at SecurityFirst@Sfo vote yes!

"We think we do a great job with training and scheduling"

"Well, you know, we are trained -- and you talked about it, we're trained at same standard operating procedures. We think we do a great job with scheduling and training. Training is our forte, training and experience. We've been able to keep screeners for a long time. We have 600 of the original 1,000 in San Francisco. We're happy with that. It comes down to training and experience. If you can keep your screeners, you will do well." - Gerry Berry, December 28, 2009


Ok, so must we ask the obvious question here? This quote is from Gerry Berry that he gave with David Asman on the Fox News Channel shortly after the Christmas underwear bomber attempt. Asman's segment that night was about the possible unionization of airport TSOs. We'll leave that subject to the rest of you to decide.


What is most interesting is the apparent illusion that Mr. Berry is under that CAS does not a good, but great job with training and scheduling. And where does he get this number that 600 of the original 1,000 are still there? While we don't have any hard numbers in front of us, that seems not very accurate.


Asman goes on to press him about flexibility and judgment calls, something that was started by TSA with Engage! and Coach! about two years ago. Berry gets backed in to a corner and implies that at CAS there really isn't any of that going on.


Ah yes, folks! I really hope that you haven't forgotten about Engage! This was that program that we all went through for two days (four days if you had to attend Coach!) where it was impressed upon us to use our gut and make judgment calls, all for the betterment of security. We all know, though, that CAS doesn't practice that at all. In fact, it's business as usual and quite the opposite. We get someone like Donnie Filbert, who doesn't know the SOP very well, instating procedures that AREN'T SOP, yet claiming they are. We all know that CAS does not allow for any flexibility at all!


We'll avoid getting into the discussion of SOP in specifics since we can not allow any SSI discussion here. But we all know that flexibility is not part of CAS's vocabulary and Berry is even more out of the loop if he really thinks there is.


You can all read the transcript from the original interview here. Skip to page 4 if you want to get to the Gerry Berry interview.

More cameras to keep an eye at SFO

The hawk-eyed security system at San Francisco International Airport, which has more than 1,300 cameras tracking travelers’ every move throughout the facility, will be honed further with a $5 million grant.

The airport’s CCTV system is one of the most effective in the nation, said Edward Gomez, federal security director for TSA. The system not only aids in the response to criminal activity but helps the airport operate more smoothly, he said.

Source: SFO and TSA

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/More-cameras-to-keep-eye-on-SFO-99175749.html#ixzz0uhm1qjRo

Just who are these people behind Security First @ SFO?

Are we the Supervisors who were ticked off about not getting raises? Are we the DFOs who applied for the checkpoint Lead position and were sent rejection letters? Are we the TSOs who are treated poorly and abused? Are we former and current employees? Just who are we?

We are all of the above and we finally have a place to unite and air our grievances. We are putting into words your issues and concerns. We, unlike management, listen and do what we can to make things better for all of us. Whether, current or former employees, we want what is best for our former and current colleagues.

We urge you to send us your issues and daily updates and what you would like to see changed. Better yet, become a contributor to this website. Send your comments to us and we will filter (deleting the profanity) and post what you send us. Spread the word and tell your co-workers about us.

Good luck to us all!

From your current and former co-workers

CAS Contract with TSA from 2004

We just uncovered an electronic copy of the original contract signed in 2004 with TSA. It looks as though it was signed on June 19, 2004. We've included the link to the original document. It's rather long. It's over 200 pages, but it's definitely worth a perusal. We believe that this contract is one of the required yearly renewals on top of the overall encompassing, three year contract that they signed in 2002. If you would like to save a copy locally on your hard drive, here is the link to the google docs that we saved it to.

An abuse of power

There is a special supervisor that works in the mornings at T3 West. We call him special because, well, he treats all of his Officers with the utmost respect. Take for example how he treated an Officer recently. An Officer got tapped out of his position with seven minutes left on his shift. As he was getting ready to clock out, this supervisor kindly asked him if he minded going to another checkpoint to finish out the remainder of his shift. This Officer retorted in a harsh and derogatory tone telling him he refused!

Ahh...heck..if only that story were true. It was the opposite in fact. This supervisor, we'll call him Curtis Boggs for this story, demanded the Officer finish his shift at another checkpoint. Mind you, the Officer had probably about five minutes left in his shift at this point. The Officer went to call the SCC to get clarification on this request. That was when he was confronted by Curtis Boggs. The Officer asked if Curtis Boggs would authorize the overtime if they got stuck doing a bag check or whatnot that would require them to work over their authorized time. Curtis Boggs said no.

Curtis Boggs then got loud with his voice and said, "I am your superior right? You are below me right? You wasted 8 minutes talking about this when you should be working!" The Officer explained that all they were trying to do was get clarification on the matter of clocking out. Curtis Boggs then threatened to write up the Officer. The Officer called his bluff and told Curtis Boggs to go ahead. Curtis Boggs of course did not write up the Officer.

Later on, the Officer called one of the managers asking for clarification on the overtime and clocking out matter. The Officer wanted to know if being asked to finish out their shift to the last minute was ok, regardless if that would require them to stay over their time. The manager said they would talk to Curtis Boggs on the matter.

First off, good for the Officer standing up for them self! More of us MUST do this. We've said it before, just because someone is your superior, it does not give them the right to abuse you. Don't take this lying down!

Needless to say, the Officer felt threatened and intimidated by Curtis Boggs. And the Officer was definitely upset. Who wouldn't be?

Second, I would not hold out hope that management will do anything about Curtis Boggs. During the Jeff Pugh regime, people complained to Pugh about Curtis Boggs and well, Curtis Boggs is still there. Management protects their own. And Curtis Boggs is someone who they probably love, precisely because he treats his Officers like dirt.

Let's remind or inform those that don't remember or even know about it. Curtis Boggs is the same supervisor who infamously danced for joy when he thought he caught someone leaving a trap in the ETD machine. He was so giddy, he couldn't wait to call the SCC to find out who it was. Oh yeah, that's right! It was Curtis Boggs who left that trap in the ETD machine!!! Now, if he got treated like any of us, he should be on a level 3 or 4 performance level. Once again, management protects their own.

Curtis Boggs is someone who needs to be knocked down several levels. For those of you that have the misfortune of having to work with this individual, we pity you. But, there are always ways of making the best of a unique situation like this.

Follow -up to the pay scale info

Now that you have a reference point it will be far easier for you to figure out what your pay scale should be.

This info is from 2006

TSA Expands Career Opportunities for Transportation Security Officers

Press Release

July 17, 2006
(571) 227-2829
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today introduced a Career Progression Program for its frontline workforce of 43,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs). Included are merit-based promotions for experienced TSOs and specialized technical career tracks, which include functions such as Behavior Detection Officers and Bomb Appraisal Officers.
"Since its inception, TSA has recognized that our most valuable asset is our people, and to stay ahead of emerging threats, we must cultivate ways to strengthen our skilled, knowledgeable, ready and willing workforce," said TSA Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley. "Offering our high-performing TSOs a better career path will not only improve employee retention but enhance security for the traveling public."
Currently, the TSO career path progresses on a management track to Lead TSO and Supervisory TSO, which jumps from the starting D Band to the F and G Bands. Under the new Career Progression Program, TSOs with two years' experience and favorable performance reviews are eligible for a higher pay grade, the newly established full performance E Band. The E Band also will recognize the new, specialized position of TSO Equipment Technician, which rewards the skills of employees responsible for the maintenance of security equipment. Internal studies conducted over the past three years have concluded that TSO performance improves with experience, underlining the need to retain employees for security reasons.
The new path also creates a technical track of Master TSO and Expert TSO, recognizing TSOs whose experience and knowledge enable them to independently complete work and perform specialized functions. Master and Expert TSOs will be in the F and G Bands, respectively, further expanding the advancement potential of TSOs not on the management track. Master or Expert TSOs have the opportunity to serve as:

• 
  
  Behavior Detection Officers who execute TSA's Screening Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT) program, identifying potentially high-risk individuals based on involuntary physical and psychological reactions. TSA anticipates expanding the original SPOT pilot program by training more than 500 Behavior Detection Officers by the end of fiscal year 2008.
• 
  
  Bomb Appraisal Officers who provide the workforce with ongoing training regarding improvised explosive devices as well as serve as on-site experts to resolve alarms that can disrupt airport operations. TSA expects to hire approximately 300 Bomb Appraisal Officers by the end of fiscal year 2008.
• 
  
  TSA-Approved Instructors who provide basic and recurrent training in passenger and baggage screening and equal employment opportunity training, and may also provide on-the-job, refresher, cross-over and other advanced training.

The Career Progression Program is supported by TSO and Assistant Federal Security Director-Screening Advisory Councils, making a "strong business case of improved performance, retention and recruiting success," said Hawley.
# # #

TSA Pay Scales-Where should we be? Part one of two

Pay Scales at TSA (2010)

TSA Careers

We are unique among our fellow Federal employees because we do not use the standard GS grading system you may be familiar with. We use an "SV" grading system, which is a system of discrete grades with pay ranges that differ from GS pay ranges. These discrete grades, which are identified by letters rather than numbers, have minimum and maximum rates.
In the table below, we show the ranges for each pay band.

Pay Band	Minimum	Maximum
A	$17,083	$24,977
B	$19,570	$28,546
C	$22,167	$33,303
D	$25,518	$38,277
E	$29,302	$44,007
F	$33,627	$50,494
G	$39,358	$60,982
H	$48,007	$74,390
I	$58,495	$90,717
J	$71,364	$110,612
K	$85,311	$132,237
L	$101,962	$155,500
M	$120,236	$155,500

The above rates are basic pay rates and do not include locality pay. 2010 basic pay rates are limited to $155,500. 2010 adjusted pay rates (base pay plus locality) are limited to $172,550.


Please note that these numbers do not include a locality pay differential of 35.15%

What's it like to work for Covenant Aviation Security?

Well, that's the question that a new employee recently asked on Yahoo! Answers. We're constantly querying the search engines for various things. We happened upon this entry the other day on Yahoo! Answers when we were doing our normal search. At first thought, we chose to ignore it. Then we thought we'd respond and do a little self promoting and mention this blog.

Well, if you click on that link now, you'll see that the question has been deleted. It has been deleted based on Yahoo! Answers' community guidelines. We searched to see if there was anything in there that warranted the deletion. And we did not find anything. Perhaps some of you can. We try not to be conspiracy theorists too much around here, but something stinks about this.

Oh yeah, you're probably wondering about the original question. Don't worry, Google Cache fortunately saved it for posterity. Here is the direct link to google cache of it, and here's the post in its entirety:

TSA vs. CAS

Even if CAS were to be awarded this contract it would not mean that all is lost.

There are two ways that SFO can become federalized. One way would be for the Airport to ask to become federalized and it would be decided upon by the TSA Administraor. If he says yes, it would happen the very next day. The second way would be for the TSA Administrator to announce that he has decided that SFO will be federalized. Once again, that would be effective the very next day. Contract or not, it means nothing.

We will not stop trying to get TSA to make us part of the TSA workforce. A private contractor with a federal contract does not meet our needs.

"The TSA Blog"

Attached to the opening page of our blog is a link to,"The TSA Blog. Talk to TSA. I want to hear from you."

Well, over the years we have been talking to TSA. Every time that we applied for a position at a TSA airport we were talking. Every time that we were told that we would not be recognized you were talking. Every time that you looked the other way while we were being abused and mistreated you have been talking. Every time our pleas and calls for help have gone unheeded you have been talking.

When will you finally come to realize that we have been by your side all these years. When will you decide that it is time for us to be fairly treated and valued as important members of the TSA workforce. There is still time for you to show us what we mean to you.

We know that you have been monitoring this blog. We hope that you can see the passion we have for what we are trying to do.

To the DFOs who received da letter!

Even a dog knows the difference between being bumped into and being kicked. Who amongst you thinks that you have been bumped into? How long will you just stand there and take it? Is it asking too much to be treated fairly?

Here we go again!

Shortly after Howard wrote his excellent piece on the upcoming promotions, we got word from a number of DFOs that applied for the checkpoint lead position that they are being denied interviews because of being DFOs. Really? Didn't Covenant already make this mistake and then forced to correct it?!

After Larry Perkins sent the letters to DFOs for the checkpoint supervisor position, he called those DFOs with the company's new position on the matter. This same Larry Perkins has sent out another round of rejection letters to DFOs simply for being misguided and daring (or sometimes forced) to be certified in checkpoint and checked baggage! Is Larry Perkins going to be making another round of mea culpa phone calls?

Sad to say, it does seem as though it is going to be business as usual. When will Covenant learn?

Promotions. Will it be business as usual?

There are those that say the promotional application process is just a way for the company to meet their legal requirements concerning job postings. In the past, promotions were given out, not to the best qualified or most deserving, but to those who never have shown their leadership skills, dedication or command presence. Many, more qualified applicants, received letters thanking them for applying.

The company now has a chance to do the right thing. It is time to walk the talk!

Names are already making the rounds on who will be promoted. How this will turn out remains to be seen.

The question has yet to be answered, " will it be business as usual?" You be the judge!

Good luck to all who applied, we wish you the best!

H. Beale

LAX to go private?

Well, according to Gerry Berry, they're considering it. Berry was heard saying today at the Perfect Attendance Luncheon that he was in LAX last month discussing with them about their thoughts of going private. Berry also boasted that SFO's attendance rate is above 97% and that LAX's is just above 72%. 

It remains to be seen. Ed Gomez, our FSD, has been heard saying in the past that it is unlikely that any other large Cat X airports would go private. 

Still waiting to hear about the labor meeting with Gerry Berry. Hopefully people from the union will be a bit more prompt about getting that information out than they were with the last meeting. 

Meeting with Gerry Berry this Wednesday!

So, the union is having a shop steward meeting today. This meeting is going to be about the meeting they're having with Gerry Berry on Wednesday. There are a couple of things we would like asked of him.

1) Will they be addressing the Akal Security issue? After all, it's been over two weeks now since it was posted in the Chronicle and not a single word from Covenant on the matter. Even if it is just some PR nonsense, they should address it instead of ignoring it like they do with so many other things.

2) Are they ever going to get the scheduling issues squared away? Yes, more staffing can solve a lot of issues, but not the ongoing issue for the last eight years of consistently creating screwed up schedules! In other words, when do they plan on terminating Terence Cunningham? Since he is clearly not up for the job, it's time to bring someone in that is up for it. That leads us to our next question.

3) What does a manager have to do in order to get fired? How many times is a manager allowed to make major screw ups before he, the President of CAS, says, "Enough is enough"? We all know full well what the rest of us have to do in order to lose our jobs, but what do they have to do?!

If the rest of you can think of any other questions you would like asked, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

We Are Running out of Time!

Folks,

If any of what we are hearing is true, then we need to pick up the pace. Our best chance seems to be to stop this contract from continuing, either with CAS, or with another private contractor. There does not appear to be anyone looking out for the employees, including our friends at TSA, so, we need to look out for ourselves.

A better and faster way to expose this private contractor relationship is to send emails instead. To date, emails have gone out to "Whitehouse.Gov.", The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fox News, CNN, 60 Minutes, the LA.Times and Congressman John Mica who is the ranking member of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The more organizations contacted, the better the chance we have of one of them taking this all the way and exposing what is really going on at SFO. If no one runs with this we will take it to every TSA blog on the internet. We will raise public awareness and eventually get to the bottom of this. We are all in this together; we have too much to lose and we will not stop now.

Good luck to all of us!

H.Beale

Hiring Issues

We just got word that Jim Adams and other top brass of local TSA went to DC to complain about the background checks impeding the hiring process at SFO. DC HQ has listened and they've released the hiring hounds. There will be four classes of 16 each back to back with one class's graduation being the first day of orientation for the next. The first class started this last Thursday. So if you want any of your friends or relatives to work for this august company, let them know.

Promotions coming down the pike

UPDATE:
The rumors are true. The CTX STSO promotions are in today's CAS Info. So the more interesting question is will they promote someone from the CTX community? We shall see.
____________________

The rumors are flying and this one is a good one. After three years of saying no to baggage promotions, it looks as though CAS is finally starting to wane on that. If the rumors are true, then there will be two CTX supervisor promotions along with two DFO STSO promotions.

No word on if DFOs will be allowed to apply for the CTX STSO positions. Hopefully they won't make the same mistake they originally did with the checkpoint STSO promotions of not allowing DFOs to apply. Then again, this is CAS that we're talking about.

So polish up those resumes and cover letters, and everyone apply. Don't forget that July 14 is the deadline to apply for the checkpoint STSO promotions.

Location:Promotions, DFOs, CTX

Filed under: WHAT THE HECK?!

TSA, with their seemingly endless budget, has created an iPhone app, called My TSA. Their description:

“My TSA” gives you 24/7 access to information that passengers frequently request from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

“My TSA” provides real-time operating status for U.S. airports from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); a tool to find out if an item is allowed in your carry-on or checked baggage; information on ID requirements, liquids rules, and tips for packing and dressing to speed through security.

The app simply tells travelers what they can and can not bring, "Airport Real-Time Status," and wait times at specific checkpoints across the country. The problem with the latter is that it requires passengers to load the app and tell it how long their respective wait was.

It's a free app. Give it a try if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad running iOS 3.0 or later. There's also a mobile web version for those Android and Blackberry users.

The end may be near for this so called Pilot Program

Letters have been sent, or will be sent shortly, to CNN, the NY Times, the LA Times, 60 minutes, the Wall Street Journal, Whitehouse.gov, asking how a Pilot program that was to last 3 years has lasted almost 8. The letters ask the questions, why and what has prevented TSA from federalizing SFO. SFO is the sixth largest airport in the country. What political connections exist that allow a private contractor to continue to be responsible for security screening. CAS can do everything right, but if a plane goes down flying out of SFO how will TSA justify this arrangement? Why is TSA sticking their necks out for a private contractor? One of these organizations will get to the bottom of this. We would all be better off, salary-wise and benefit- wise, being part of the TSA workforce. It was not the managerial skills of our company that have kept this contract going, it was, and is, the dedication and hard work of the employees.

Good luck to us all!

H.Beale

DFOs no longer the bastard step-child?

CORRECTION: Someone correctly reminded me that the last baggage supervisor promotions actually took place in the summer of 2007. There were also two subsequent promotions to supervisor in the BSR, one of which was eventually moved out to the bag room and the other one that happened a year and a half to two years ago. Thanks for the correction!
_______________________________

For several months now, DFOs have been shut out from promotions that weren't DFO specific promotions. DFOs weren't allowed to apply for checkpoint STSO promotions, trainer, BDO, or recruiting positions.

Many will recall during the Jeff Pugh regime, dual function was the only way to go. In fact, when the dual function program first started, more opportunities was a key selling point as to the reason why you should crossover.

That seemed to change with the Filbert regime. DFOs seemed to become the latest of positions that did not curry favor with management. Baggage folks know about this all too well. They've been experiencing it now for almost four  three years. The last baggage promotion, other than CTX 9000 specialist, happened almost four years ago!

Jump ahead to last month when CAS posted promotions for checkpoint supervisor and lead. Once again it seemed that DFOs would be shut out. In fact, a couple of DFOs applied and were sent rejection letters because they were DFOs.

Well, as of today, that has changed. Those individuals that received those rejection letters were called by Larry Perkins today informing them that the company has changed their position on the promotions and that dual functions will in fact be allowed to apply. CAS will be reposting the promotion for dual functions to apply.

Most likely the company didn't voluntarily change their position, it was likely due to outside pressure from the union. If that's the case, it's a good thing all around.

While we do applaud CAS for ultimately doing the right thing, it's just a sad state of things when they couldn't come to this conclusion beforehand.

So if you're a DFO and did not apply before, we strongly recommend that you do now. What's the worse that can happen?

Quick Update to the Akal Security "Interview"

Wanted to post a quick update to the Akal Security "Interview" the other day. There was no interview at this job fair. It was just a couple of people showing up late with a tacky sign and no handouts, according to the person called for the "interview".  I guess they didn't even offer much information either. The question that comes to mind, though, is why was this person called and no one else?

Find Mindy!

Reports are coming in that Mindy Pengel has been MIA for at least three weeks. She's reportedly on vacation but some are starting to wonder if that's really the case. It's also odd that she wasn't at the Labor/Management meeting on June 24th.

So where is she? One can only guess. Perhaps she really is on vacation. But her absence lately is noticeable and seems to be longer than what a normal vacation length would be. Who knows, maybe she'll pop up in the next couple of days to give Donnie Filbert his walking papers? Ahh...one can hope!


UPDATE: We can all rest easy. Someone posted on FB that Mindy has in fact, been spotted on at least three separate occasions last week. She was seen sporting a bright, neon green cast. That might explain why she's been absent for so long.

Akal Security making more mistakes

Last week someone from the BSR was called in for an interview with Akal Security. The "interview" was to happen in Concord even though their offices are located in San Jose.

Well, it wasn't an interview. It was a job fair. This individual waited over an hour for Akal to show up. When they finally did show, they informed him that submitting his resume was enough and that showing up there wasn't necessary!

If this is the level of competence we could expect from Akal, it's probably best that they don't get the contract.

Tour of the Future Terminal 2

Chris McGinnis from the Chronicle takes us on a tour of the soon to be opened Terminal 2 at SFO.

Free WiFi to be offered @ SFO

Starting September 1, SFO will be offering free WiFi according to this San Jose Mercury Times article. For those of you with your WiFi enabled devices, this will definitely be welcomed and about time.

Minutes from the Labor/Management Meeting on June 24, 2010

Below are the minutes from the Labor/Management meeting that took place on June 24, 2010. And here is the Google Docs link, if you'd like to download and peruse it offline.

UPDATE: Attendance Issues

On June 22, we reported about a TSO that was disciplined for not having hand scanned in on a particular day. We received some clarification on that today. It turns out that he did not hand scan in. In a typical screwball way, the devil was in the details.

The ACC will manually enter your hand scan to coordinate with your start time if you fail to hand scan in. And it will state something to that effect on their system.

It's been revealed to us that the real reason for the hand scan disciplining is that TSA supposedly admonished and or fined Covenant for not keeping accurate records with the time keeping when they were audited. This makes sense and explains why for several CAS Infos they put in that blurb about making certain to hand scan in and out.

And to be clear, when things turn out to be different or wrong, we will not hesitate to correct the record. Since the company is not very forthcoming with information, it's very easy for wrong information to get out there.

Also, later tonight we will be posting the minutes from the Labor/Management meeting that took place on June 24, 2010.

More Info on the SFO Contract Bid

We heard from an extremely reliable source that the top brass at TSA were not at all happy with Akal Security posting that advertisement in the Chronicle. They were so upset that they sent a letter to Washington requesting that Akal cease and desist.

Also according to this source, Covenant is extremely likely, in their opinion, to be awarded the contract again. The source stated that it's very difficult for another company be able to take over the contract from an incumbent. The main concern for TSA is that the awarded contract goes to a company that can demonstrate they are up to the task and have the financial backing to handle all the finances that go along with it. And this is something that Covenant has been able to demonstrate.

What was most curious to this source is why Akal did this. Were they just trying to be proactive and show to TSA that they have what it takes? We don't know. It seems to have done the opposite.

The source also told us that not nearly as many companies bid on the contract as they thought would. There were only a handful of companies that are bidding, one being Excalibur which already has a relationship with Covenant and TSA at SFO. As some of you know, Ed Peres, the auditor that goes around to checkpoints and bag rooms auditing us on SOP, works for Excalibur.

We were told that if another company were to be awarded the contract, we'd find out in August or beginning of September.