Our Take on the Town Hall Mettings!

It is obvious that the current level of effort put forth by the workforce is not quite what Covenant wishes it to be. They want us to smile and be more tolerant.

Management is just in denial and refuses to admit that the workforce has responded in a way that doesn't give Covenant what it wants. Jeff:  it comes down to "Production versus Potential." A workforce that is appreciated and respected for their contributions is more motivated to put forth a better effort!


Jeff Pugh has reportedly stated that we can have a raise or we can have our parking back, but we can't have both! For a company that is trying to get the workforce to be more courteous and customer friendly that approach just will not do. We find this to be an extremely arrogant and rigid position.

Once again, the quality of the only product that Covenant is able to provide can only be raised to a higher level by management improving morale.  Stop the threats and intimidation!

FirstLine Transportation wins their battle...

and has successfully challenged the contract that was awarded to Akal Security, Inc. for the Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. (MCI)

A judge has concluded that the TSA's award decision was fundamentally flawed and should be set aside.

Will there be a similar challenge for the contract awarded at SFO?

Read the full report at: (or start at page 71.)

http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/BUSH.FIRSTLINE092711.pdf

Boring Labor Law Update

Here is an Amicus Brief (friend of the court brief) filed by the Service Employees International Union:



http://www.nlrb.gov/about/foia/vr/ugl/SEIU_UGL_Amicus_Brief.pdf



This brief will have a receptive audience with Democratic appointees in the current majority at the National Labor Relations Board. It appears that when contractors change, there may be new obligations for employers to bargain. It also appears the right to vote out the union at that juncture may disappear. (for other briefs filed see http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/news_room/notice_for_briefs/index.aspx)



The ability of a new contractor to slash wages may be tempered by this, but then again "bargaining" at SFO seems to have a meaning of its own, doesn't it?


Update: my first link is not working probably due to my lack of technical skills - for the curious, it's the SEIU brief below UGL-Unicco, which can be accessed from the second link.

Akal Makes the List

The sh!t list that is.

The United States Government Accountability Office just released a report titled "FEDERAL CONTRACTING Assessments and Citations of Federal Labor Law Violations by Selected Federal Contractors". This report features Akal Security.

You can find the report at http://www.GAO.gov/new.items/d101033.pdf.

Obviously, Akal is responsible for its actions and may face the consequences. The report seems to suggest that the politicians are curious as to why these contractors maintain their eligibility, why the Department of Labor doesn't use its nuclear option to bar these contractors from bidding and working on federal contracts.

But if the politicos push to restrict competition across federal contracts, including the Screening Partnership Program, maybe its time to start talking about killing the SPP, instead of trying to gerrymander the thing to benefit operations like CAS/SEIU.

Thanks much to all involved for your help

Thanks much to all of you who reviewed the RFP and followed up with suggestions and opinions.

After much discussion and debate we have decided to challenge Covenant's ability to be considered as part of the bidding group for SFO. It is our position that CAS is in non-compliance with Factor 1., sub-factor 1.2. Factor 1 is a Pass/Fail category and any failure with any factor in Factor 1 removes the contractor from the bidding group.

We are in the process of submitting our position and reasons for our conclusion to the CBO, GAO, Office of Inspector General, Ingrid.Pascall-Lopez@DHS.Gov, Akal Security.

We will also be contacting Meg Whitman and Sara Palin asking them to review the connection between SEIU, the largest union in California and the biggest contributor to Democratic State and Local officials, and SFO.

Good luck to us all!

Akal Security's Weak Point

Akal Security has a subsidiary Coastal International Security. One of Coastal's biggest revenue streams is from the Federal Protective Service. You may have heard about inspectors getting prohibited items past contract personnel at the Federal Protective Service. Might have been Coastal, may not have been, any identifying information was redacted on public reports.

Recently some Congressmen (led by Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi) have been proposing a pilot program (where do they get these ideas?) to convert some contract personnel to federal employees. If the program gathers steam, up to 15,000 contract employees could go federal. Good for them. Yet how will Coastal respond to try to hold on to this business? Hopefully not with any backroom deals.

Now I'm sure if the employees had a choice they'd rather work directly for the Federal Protective Service (where they are likely to be recruited by the American Federation of Government Employees, major contributors to Bennie Thompson's re-election campaign). But isn't it interesting that the politicians are finding Akal's weak point at the same time Akal is chasing business at San Francisco International Airport?

About Akal Security and Bureaucrats

The federal government has a website usaspending.gov which tracks federal spending. Akal might not have the exact match experience of the chest-thumping Category X champion Covenant Aviation Security LLC. But Akal is not small. Usaspending lists contract awards to Akal Security in the amount of $238.7 million for fiscal year 2010 (the government's year ends September 30, so this is about one year's worth of contracts). This means Akal Security has a lot of work at military bases, federal buildings and courthouses, government owned research facilites or plants, etc.

In comparison, Covenant pulls in about $80 million a year a SFO. The other Covenant company - currently Covenant Security Services - is kind of sputtering but to be generous let's says Covenant has in total $100 million a year in federal work.

What's notable to me is Akal sometimes comes out on top when there are 20 bidders. Not one bidder. Not two bidders. A lot of competition. And the federal bureaucrats choose Akal. I expect they can play up their strengths and play down their weaknesses. Covenant, on the other hand, may not be as skilled in proposal writing: if they were, why isn't the other Covenant company winning contracts when Akal is the competition?

For what it's worth. If the government is inclined to pick Covenant Aviation Security, they may take eight months to work out their reasoning. Mostly, in my opinion, because Akal could protest the award if the reasoning is not sound. A bureaucrat's gotta do what a bureaucrat's got to do after all.

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?

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.

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.

Clarification on 9.4 Successor Clause

A reader yesterday pointed to the Successor Clause Section 9.4 of the CBA as a legal reason why a new company would have to honor our current CBA. We just heard back from Whitfield McTair on this and his explanation was that this clause only applies to another company that would buy Covenant's airport division either by selling, transferring or leasing. It would not apply if another company was awarded the contract by TSA or the Airport Commission.

This just gave us an interesting thought. The owner of Covenant died sometime last year. His widow did a tour of SFO a while back. Many theorized at the time that she might sell the company. If this were true, then that company would have to honor the CBA. What if she did actually sell it off to Akal Security and they're just waiting for approval from TSA? Interesting food for thought.

Quick note about a possible take over from another company

We spoke to Whitfield McTair today. The question on our mind was what exactly is the legal ramifications for another company that would take over the contract at SFO. And as we suspected, his answer is that another company is not legally obligated to honor our current CBA with Covenant. In other words, if Akal Security were to come in, they could slash our wages and benefits.

Security First @ SFO has decided it probably is a good idea for everyone to submit their resumes to Akal Security, in the event that this were to happen. And as Whitfield was stating to us, it's time that we all got involved and became politically active.

Stay tuned, as more information comes available.

More Information on Akal Security

"Akal means 'undying' in an ancient language of India," according to this article from The Albuquerque Tribune. They were started in 1980 and operated by Yogi Bhajan's Ministry of Sikh Dharma. The group is purporting to be a non-profit group. This website claims that many Sikh's do not wish to associate with this group as they supposedly don't teach the traditional Sikh dogma. Any Sikh's out there wish to comment? We'll abstain from THAT debate. And finally, here is a video from Gurutej Singh about how he started Akal Security.

This press release from TSA from July 27, 2005 lists Akal Security as one of the "qualified vendors" that is able to compete for airports that go private. Covenant is also listed as a qualified vendor.

Akal is also seeking and advertising for positions in Kansas City.

Akal mans the exits at BWI (Baltimore-Washington Airport) according to the project manager at BWI for Akal, Russell Westley.

Akal does work at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, in addition to BWI. However, in 2007 they were reprimanded 15 times in a two month period for security falling asleep on the job and various other infractions, according to this report. For whatever the reason, the original URL is not showing up and only the google cache of it. However, here's another report from Phoenix's local ABC 15 telling of security guards there not checking to make certain bags are not being stolen by other passengers.

This is the recruitment notice posted in Hot Jobs, as it was posted in the SF Gate. They have an office in San Jose, as Akal also runs security for Federal Court Houses. They were sued by guards over SF Federal building security for a number of things, that I won't bore you with, but can read at the SF Gate.

As we learn more, we'll report. Keep checking for updates.

New Company to Replace Covenant?

A number of months ago, two companies did a tour of SFO. They were also shown around in the BSR (Baggage Screening Room). When this bit of information was mentioned to a TSM (Transportation Security Manager), this particular manager, who is generally very open with information, went very quiet and just stated that it was normal policy to do things like this because outside companies have the right to bid on the contract regardless if it's still with Covenant.

Ok, so we didn't give it a lot of thought at the time. It was more just interesting, than juicy. If you didn't know, it's the Airport Commission that decides whether or not a private company comes in or replaces said private company. It's not TSA that makes that decision. And unlike a lot of you out there, we're not convinced that TSA taking control of SFO would be for the better. Trust us, it's not going to be rainbows, sunshine, and lollipops if they do.

Well, we got a bit of VERY interesting information today courtesy of a TSO. Apparently a company called AKAL is soliciting positions for TSOs and administrative staff for SFO and Kansas City. Here is the relevant information from their website:

Akal Security, Inc. (Akal) is soliciting resumes for potential airport security screening positions and several administrative positions for both the San Francisco and Kansas City International Airports. The availability of these positions is based on Akal Security’s award of a contract from the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration. Upon contract award, interested applicants who meet Minimum Requirements will be invited either via phone call, mail, or email to submit a formal application online.

Transportation Security Officers must pass a rigorous pre-hire assessment in order to be considered for employment and must successfully pass all training courses in order to be offered full or part time employment with Akal Security. Detailed position descriptions and requirements are provided below.

It cannot be predicted how many positions will be available until after contract award and most of the advertised positions are expected to be filled by incumbent personnel. In fact, incumbent personnel are encouraged to submit resumes indicating their desire to transfer to Akal Security. (We will keep your information confidential.) If we are not awarded the contract, we will offer all resumes to the selected contractor.

They even want us to apply and they'll keep it confidential. Something is very fishy about all of this. They're soliciting for applications when they admittedly haven't even gotten the contract yet. Instead of having a form publishing page that most professional companies have on their site, they want you to send your resume to a gmail account!

All of this seems way too confident for a company that hasn't gotten the contract. But don't worry, if they don't get the contract, they'll forward the resumes to the "selected contractor".

They're even so confident that they published an ad in the SF Chronicle, which is how our source found out about this.

Once again, something doesn't seem right about this. Be on the lookout for any and all information, and please share if you discover anything. We'll update as soon as we find out anything else.