Are "Plank" owners being targeted?

There is a growing suspicion that, because of the increased rate of accrual of vacation time, CAS is looking for reasons to terminate those that are close to reaching 10 years of service.

The recent firings of two checkpoint supervisors who, by the way, were Plank owners, does give one food for thought. Is there any substance to this point?

You make the call, we are only passing on something that we are hearing more and more.

Hand Scanner Reliability

This comment was submitted to us and it highlights an issue that has affected many members of the workforce.

"I, like so many others, have been given a second verbal warning stating that I did not hand scan in, but I did hand scan out. I work @ Pier C and I scan in in the break room, which by the way, has no camera to prove my hand scan was or was not legitimate . There were at least 20 screeners plus 15 BDO's who were scanning in at the same time. I have filed a grievance with the union and will go in to try to make some sense of this with HR. I need to be able to come to work and do an outstanding job each 8 hour shift and I should NOT have to worry about my hand scan. Has this scanner always functioned properly? (It might also be noted that I have perfect attendance....well, up to this point.)"

More Litigation for CAS!

Court:	New York Civil Supreme
Index Number:	402973/2011
Case Name:	PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK vs. COVENANT AVIATION SECURITY
Case Type:	Other Torts
Track:	Standard
RJI Filed:	01/31/2012
Date NOI Due:
NOI Filed:
Disposition Date:
Calendar Number:
Jury Status:
Justice Name:	TINGLING, M.A.

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
BENJAMIN NOREN/JAMES BEGLEY - PA OF NY NJ	Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record	Atty. Status: Active
225 PARK AVENUE SOUTH-13TH FLR NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003
1-212-435-3507/3134
Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
JENNIFER HUANG/KAPLAN,MASSAMILLO&ANDREWS, LLC	Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record	Atty. Status: Active
70 EAST 55TH STREET - 25TH FLR NEW YORK, NY 10022
(212)922-0450

And who said that SEIU and CAS are NOT in a cozy relationship?

CAS gets a contract in New York and then "voluntarily" recognizes SEIU. CAS gets the boot (employees disliked both CAS and SEIU), new contractor comes in, some employees had petitioned for an election to replace SEIU. A NLRB director approves election/ SEIU appeals to full board in Washington / Washington kicks it back saying, "please consider our most recent handiwork if there should be an election, as we killed an election in a corporate takeover situation. Does the same rationale apply?

No updated decision from regional director so far. If regional director approves the election again, it will go back to Washington on the grounds questioning whether SEIU can be on the ballot since, although the employees are guards, the airport claims the employees only job responsibility is to protect the property of the airport. And since the airport is a public entity, SEIU's legal rationale, is that the NLRA definition of "guard" does not apply because guards need to protect the property on an "employer", and the airport is not an NLRA "employer".

It seems that CAS has done all that it can to keep the local chapter of SEIU in New York collecting dues from the employees.

Just how are they doing this? For some strange reason, they "voluntarily" decided to recognize SEIU as the union to represent the workforce. Now, what's in it for CAS? Lower wages and benefits negotiated by SEIU for the employees? No shift differential?

Just another shining example of a for profit company trying, once again, to stick it to their employees.

When will SEIU start to keep their fiduciary responsibilities and put the employees best interest first?

"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of "each" individual."

Charge against SEIU update

An Update : On Feb. 3 2012 the charge against SEIU has been received by Nation Labor Relations Board in San Francisco. The charge has been docketed as case number 20-CB-073971. This is also on the NLRB web-site with updates on the case. David Reeves is the Investigator attorney for the board on this case.

So, what do you think happens now?

There is legislation in the Senate today that would force the TSA to let airports opt out of the Federal screening program. If it passes it will go to Obama, who is expected to approve and sign on said legislation.

More private companies with government contracts means more union dues for union coffers. Since unions are the biggest contributors to President Obama's re-election campaign, we can all guess where the dues will go.

There are two loopholes for the TSA to use. They would have to prove that, as the BusinessWeek article states, the "move wouldn’t be cost-effective and would be detrimental to security."
Of those two loopholes, the easiest path for the TSA seems to be the old standby, "that it would be detrimental to security!"

How would the TSA substantiate their complaints against Covenant? Testing, testing and more testing! They would have to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that private companies are not capable of providing the quality of security comparable to that which the TSA provides.

So, once again, does anyone think that the TSA will just sit idly by and watch their "empire" shrink?

We think not. If we thought that we were tested before, think again. This new legislation will bring the testing to an even more intense level, and the battle lines have been drawn.

Buckle up; we are in for a rough ride.

SEIU and Their Re-election Campaign Contributions!

It has been reported that, as of this date, President Obama has collected, in the way of contributions, 61 million dollars. At this current pace, by November, he would have raised 1 billion dollars!

The biggest contributors, so far, have been unions. Now, of those fore mention unions, the biggest contributor has been SEIU! Hard to believe, isn't it? The dues of all the union members, with or without their consent, has been spent to further the special interest of the SEIU national leadership.

They will no doubt tell us that this is the right thing to do. Is it really? Or, will they tell us anything at all? We need a rail, a bucket of tar, and loads of feathers.

A Charge has been Filed Against SEIU!