We have another question!

The latest report from the Inspector General has determined that too much emphasis is placed on "reducing passenger wait times", rather than providing quality security.  In response to these findings, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger stated, during a recent visit to San Francisco International Airport, that the main directive of the workforce will shift from efficiency to effectiveness.

Our question is this:  Why has Covenant Management completely disregarded these instructions and persisted in focusing on "security efficiency"?

Your Job Is At Risk, And You Will Be Reported!

By now you should have heard about the screening violations that occurred in Florida.  According to TSA Administrator John Pistole, "When we find people not doing the job, we'll give them due process -- but we will hold them accountable, and we will fire them."

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/259353/4/Florida-airport-security-chief-among-those-suspended-from-TSA

Any TSO, who is either asked to perform or voluntarily performs, any duty not in their job classification will be identified and reported for violating the SOP.  CAS will have failed to properly supervise its workforce in order to prevent these SOP violations.

 
Follow the SOP and protect yourself!

We Renew Our Pledge To The TSA And To Those...

passengers who depend upon us to provide for their safety. 

Unlike our management we are not "just in this for the money."  Unlike our management we do know the difference between right and wrong.

We made a pledge when we signed on for these positions and we intend to honor that pledge.

A Special Message To Our...

brothers and sisters in the Baggage Community. 

At one minute after midnight tonight the former baggage leads will become members of the TSO ranks. 

At one minute after midnight CAS will be in violation of the SOP.  Shortly thereafter we will be contacting the Office of the Inspector General outlining these violations.  We will leave no stone unturned in our attempt to remedy this situation.  

As we approach the start of our new shift schedule

remember that the company, who puts profit before security, expects you to follow your schedule.
The company that plans to eliminate our dental plan, parking allowance, and other benefits needs you to do the right thing.  The company that has never shown us any respect or appreciation is counting on you to forget, for the moment, their threats. 

So, the question that begs to be asked is, "Just what kind of response does this company deserve to get from us?"  What will the first day of the new schedule be like?  How many of you will call off?  Just how will you let the company know how you feel?  Will it be Kincare or FMLA?

As usual the choice is yours; do what you think is best!

TSA, Are You Watching?

Checkpoint lines are getting longer and so are the waiting times.  Checked baggage screening is also slowing down.  The workforce is absolutely fed up with CAS management and this is a way to display our displeasure.  At what point will you step in?

We, as a workforce stand united!  We don't need SEIU to speak for us. (And, we still feel that the cozy relationship that SEIU has with CAS is still in place.)

Here is the main reason that we believe this to be true.

For some time we have been insisting that this do nothing but take our dues union show that they are working for us.  We have been demanding that they not walk away from the bargaining table without getting "shift differential."  They know that we would and will be very critical of their lack of effort. 

Now, if CAS does convince the TSA to give them more money all these changes to our benefit packages will not take place.  If they do CAS will be out of compliance and will lose this contract.  Just picture how SEIU will take full credit for saving the status quo.  They no doubt will tell us that we should be happy and satisfied.  They will no doubt tell us that we "need" them and to please show our support by becoming full dues paying members once again. 

Just how dumb do they think we are?  They have done nothing since they have been here and it is now time to pay the piper!  SEIU--Take a hike!

A Calculated Gamble By CAS

CAS is pulling out all the stops in their effort to get the TSA to pay them for the staffing that they provided for the re-opening of Terminal 2.  The attempts that have been made so far have produced zero results.  

Under the leadership of Mike Boles, who is the interim CAS president and has a "take no prisoners"approach, CAS has decided to "threaten" the workforce with drastic cuts in benefits.  The thinking here is, an unhappy and threaten workforce produces a substandard security product resulting in longer wait times for checkpoint and checked baggage screening.

Of course, this doesn't make the services that CAS provides to the TSA noteworthy, but CAS is in desperation mode.  At this point either the TSA pays CAS what the company feels it is owed or takes over the airport.  It's a gamble that CAS seems willing to take.  They are hemorrhaging money right now and they don't like it.

The question now is, who will blink first?  Will the SWAT team be called in?  Will our illustrious management team be handed its walking papers?

Pass the popcorn, the showdown is about to begin!    

"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.

100% SOP ALL THE TIME!

Let's be honest folks. Our CBA doesn't grant us a whole lot of power in terms of resolving issues that we have with Covenant management. So where is our true power? That power lies within the SOP itself, the very thing we use on a day to day basis to perform our jobs.

So what does that mean? Well, it's simple really. Instead of taking short cuts with your verbiage, say the entire speech. Instead of trying to clear an image in a split second, take your time on the X-Ray so that you can be assured that that image is indeed clear. If you're not 100% certain that that bag is clear, then call a bag check. Instead of trying to do a hand wand or a pat down lightning quick, take your time. Assure yourself and the flying public that that individual is indeed clear of prohibited items.

This seems simple and it's probably easier said than done. Look at it this way. What personal incentive is it for you to do all of that at a Speedy Gonzalez rate? Do you get a bigger pay in January? Do you get a bigger bonus? We all know the answer to all of those questions.

So why do we continue to go at breakneck-speeds? If you do so, they're just going to move you to another checkpoint or bag room! Take your time. Follow the SOP 100% ALL THE TIME! If we do so, management will be forced to recognize and respect us. And I think that's what we're asking for the most part.

That's what has been so frustrating lately. Especially with this rebid, they didn't even have the decency just to say to us, "Hey, we screwed up. We're sorry. Please forgive us." But they couldn't even do that. And the reason is that they don't respect us and or they think we're completely stupid.

Either way, it's time that they be forced to respect us. And the only way we're ultimately going to accomplish that is if we make those wait times noticeably longer. And the best way to do that is perform SOP 100% ALL THE TIME!

Highlights from the Union Meeting

Well, it's a little disappointing that more didn't show. Even if you're not a big union supporter it's all the more reason for you to show. We need to let the union know where we feel they are failing.

Enough of that. Let's get into some of the highlights. First was the acknowledgement that CAS screwed up. Great. We know that already.

It was also stated that the airlines have noticed our 100% SOP usage, i.e., longer lines. But it's still not enough! We need to be doing that more! Anyways it also got the attention of Gerry Berry which is what prompted his earlier willingness to have a meeting until he canceled.

There is also a suggestion of having separate bid lines for female and male PAX TSOs. They want to put this to a vote before it is formally presented to management.

The other idea tossed out there was joining a larger union. This one we're not personally on board with. Bottom line it is going to cost more in union dues. It's a little more complicated in their dues figuring, but anything that costs us more money without a proven track record of positive results makes us skeptical. The one distinct advantage is this union has a hotline that you can call for any grievance you may have. And they will get the paperwork rolling right then and there. We'll see on that one.

All in all the meeting didn't really accomplish much. So it's really going to come down to the rest of us. What are you willing to do?

Ticket Queue @ West

Here was the TDC queue at West checkpoint on Friday, June 11, 2010 @ approximately 6:20 PM. Good job guys!