Now these are some eye popping numbers!

Closely held Covenant Aviation Security LLC has been
awarded at least $692 million in contracts since 2002, more than
twice as much as any other private-screening company, according
to a Bloomberg Government review of TSA contracts.

Covenant is based in Winter Springs, Florida, in Rep. John Mica’s
district. The congressman said Covenant’s location hasn’t
influenced his view.

Well, Mr. Mica, just how many employees work at the base office in Winter Springs, Florida? Would that number be just one? Do the initials Gee Bee help?

Have you ever wondered why....

CAS has a policy that treats a "sick day" call out as an occurrence? They actually prefer that you call out as "Kincare or as a FMLA." And, it is purely an attendance percentage issue.

A sick call out gets recorded as a ding against the company. The last number that we remember seeing have CAS stating that their attendance averages somewhere around 97%.

So, if 50 people call out, as either Kincare or FMLA, and there are no other call outs, CAS can then say that they have 100% perfect attendance.

As you have probably figured out by now, there is a cash incentive for having a high attendance ratio. When it comes to generating the most income, for a "for profit company", CAS will leave no stone unturned! This is a hole in the system that needs to be plugged. TSA, are you listening?

The Value of the 5 year SFO contract is now....

up to 455 million and still counting!

The TSA and CAS agreed to an increase in the contract value and that, my friends, is why the long overdue promotions are finally being doled out.

Let's see, whom do we like for promotions? Boyfriends, Girlfriends, Suck ups, Friend of a friend, kissing cousins, card playing buddies.....did we leave anyone out?

Phantom Job Postings and Interviews?

Congratulations to the newly promoted Leads. Unfortunately, we can't seem to remember seeing the job postings. When were they announced and when were the candidates interviewed?


More than a few people have contacted us voicing unhappiness with this whole process. CAS just continues to do whatever they want whenever they want. And, where is the Human Resources Department? Who is looking out for those in the workforce who have not been given an opportunity to apply or interview?

Those of you who are feeling that you have had enough can file a complaint with the EEOC and, or, the NLRB.

More Dirt on the TSA courtesy of Rep. John Mica

Rep. Mica, in one of his interviews, stated that the TSA now has a workforce of 63,000 employees.

Of those 63,000 roughly 12,000 are making more than 105,000 dollars a year.

The breakdown is as follows: 3,800 employees at the Washington, D.C. office are making 105,000 bucks a year. 7,800 employees out in the field are also at that pay scale.

Not a bad country America. It truly is a land of opportunity!

What ever happened to.....?

The petition that was submitted to management concerning a certain manager that alienated the majority of the CTX workforce? For all their time and effort, Nada!

Management went through the motions and interviewed the usual suspects, but as usual they swept in under the rug. Well, don't give up! The Feds eventually did get the "Teflon Don." So, all you petitioners should stay hopeful.

Will they get the new shift bid schedules right?

It's been 8 plus years since our wonderful management team has attempted to get a workable schedule in place. What are the odds that they will finally succeed? How about, "not a snowballs chance in hell." With the blind leading the blind they will no doubt fail again.

Maybe they should admit defeat and realize that it is beyond their capabilities. Now, what is it that they can do right? Does anyone have any thoughts?

And the Testing Goes On and On!

We all know that we have been tested to no end by the TSA, but a question remains to be asked, are all airports subject to this, or is it just us?

We believe that this is a direct result of the calls from Rep. John Mica to privatize more airports and to reduce the size of the TSA. When push comes to shove, and the TSA is being shoved mighty hard, the TSA will be relentless in defending their turf. They are doing what any agency would do.

The sad part is that CAS management did not see this coming. They have failed to anticipate this kind of response from the TSA. And, therein lies the problem.

So, keep expecting to see more and more testing. Keep expecting it to continue with no end in sight.

Crunch time for the shoe policy!

September 1st is "D" Day.

Will CAS continue to try to intimidate the workforce into paying for a uniform item that they should pay for? Shoes are part of the uniform that should be bought and paid for by the company.

If you have already purchased your shoes save your receipts. This is a clear violation of California State Law. So far, our do nothing union has yet to take a stand. (Watch what this union is capable of.) If they don't act on behalf of the workforce we will.

Just so CAS knows that our hearts are in the right place we are willing to meet them half way. They can buy the shoes and we will buy are own black socks.

Spending our money, Part 2

This came to us in response to the first posting. Did not want this to not be seen by those who frequent our site; so here it is.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_deductions.htm

"d. Uniforms. If an employer requires that an employee wear a uniform, the employer must pay the cost of the uniform. Labor Code Section 2802,
Industrial Welfare Commission Orders, Section 9. The term "uniform" includes wearing apparel and accessories of distinctive design and color."

I am not a lawyer, but i think Covenant should cough up to pay the cost of our shoes and socks. How dare they are telling us which shoes to buy and over the ankle black/navy socks!

Did CAS management ever read the CA labor code at all?

Whose bright idea was it to....

fire the checked baggage baggage handlers and to use screeners instead?

Let's take a screener away from resolving alarms and have that person do the job of a baggage handler. That's a brilliant solution!

Management knows that screeners are paid slightly more than a baggage handler, right? Isn't this the reverse of cost cutting? Plus, the TSA is paying for screeners who will perform screening duties; they are not paying for screeners to act as baggage handlers.

This appears to be the same creative "smoke and mirrors" that CAS was using for our training room personnel. You remember, they had them on the books as front line employees and charged them to the TSA when their salaries should have been paid by CAS. Maybe they thought that no one would notice.

Just how long will CAS continue to violate our SOP?

In spite of what CAS wants us to think, a certain number of LTSO positions need to be filled. Why has TSA not stepped in? Why are they allowing this blatant disregard of the SOP to continue?


CAS management, in an attempt to save even more money, is withholding the perfect attendance bonuses of the recently terminated baggage handlers. We don't think that CAS really wants to go there. If these baggage handlers meet the qualifications to merit that bonus they are entitled to it, even if they are no longer employed by CAS. Is, Gerald L. Berry of Winter Springs, Florida, behind all this? How low can CAS go?

Put this down as another perfect example of "employee appreciation."

Once again, it's all about security!

It seems that CAS management is once again focusing on how much time it takes to check a bag. They need to be reminded that security takes time and that we will not release that bag until we are absolutely sure that all alarms have been resolved. We would think that management would place more importance on security than they currently are.

We will control the things that we can and should.

Staffing levels are the responsibility of our stellar management team and we will not be pressured to compensate for managerial shortcomings.

Just What Makes CAS Info SSI?

It must be the reminder that our parking fees have to be renewed! Or, is it the listing of birthdays? Could it be the promotional opportunities?

How about the reminder that we have to hand-scan in and out?

We just fail to see how any of this can be SSI.

It appears that our wonderful management team is in a panic mode. Looks like the TSA has CAS looking over their collective shoulders. Doesn't this over reaction just show the quality of our top notch management team ? They certainly are a knowledgeable bunch!

No More Re-Training!

During a recent meeting with the local TSA, we heard that we will no longer be able to have re-training as an option, should we fail to spot certain items. Does this change only apply to private contractors? Does this new rule apply to the entire TSA workforce?

We would like to see something in print coming from the TSA headquarters outlining these changes. We would like to see that this applies to everyone, not just the private contractors.

Is this the TSA administrator's way of meeting the challenge of Rep. John Mica head on?

Honesty and Integrity are,,,

only two of the five core competencies, but in our view they the most important. It is laughable how, at one time, we were tested by CAS to see if we knew all five.

How could a company, such as CAS, dare to stress to us the importance of "Honesty and Integrity" when, to them, these are words without meaning. Has anyone seen anything from CAS management that even comes close to hinting that they know the meanings of these words?

Have they ever been honest with us? Have they ever shown us that they have any integrity at all? And, since we are going down this road, let's bring in "Teamwork."

Management has always had a "them versus us" attitude. It's impossible to have "teamwork" when there is no "team."

Now They Are Willing To Listen!

More than two years after we were given the "Engage" class the TSA is finally asking for our input.

Quite some time ago we posted a piece saying that we are here to help any way that we could. We spoke about how positive feedback and a pragmatic approach would help to make things better.

Our offer went unheeded!

Now, with the TSA under a barrage of assaults they are finally reaching out to the rank and file. They have finally come to realize that they had an unused valuable asset right under their noses.

Is this a little too late? Can this patient be saved?

How do we protect ourselves?

With everything that the TSA has, and will, throw at us the next question should be, how do I protect myself from a loss of employment?

The simple answer is to follow the SOP 100% of the time!

Not sure, or don’t remember what you have read way back when? Tell your supervisor that you need and want to refresh your memory about the SOP procedures. Document when you told your supervisor and where you were. (Such as Pier B, Pier C, etc.) Have a witness who will be able to verify that this actually took place and jot down the time.

Once again, do not let an unresolved alarm go. Do not release a person or their property until you are absolutely certain that the alarm has been resolved. Do not look at the length of the line or the number of bags waiting to be screened. Do what we have been hired to do. Our only function is to provide security according to the TSA SOP standards.

Promotions!

Congratulations to all those who have been promoted. We are sure that there will be plenty of grumbling about some of the choices. Don't blame the applicants, blame the system for allowing this to happen. After all, who would look a gift horse in the mouth? Take the money and run.

To those of you who have had enough of what you consider to be unfair treatment, we feel for you!

So, we have taken it upon ourselves to at least point you in the right direction in your desire to seek justice. Here is the address of the EEOC District Office. Good luck!

San Francisco District Office

Location:	350 The Embarcadero Suite 500 San Francisco, CA 94105-1260
Phone:	1-800-669-4000
Fax:	415-625-5609
TTY:	1-800-669-6820
Director:	Michael Baldonado
Regional Attorney:	William R. Tamayo
Office Hours:	The San Francisco District Office is open Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Walk-in services available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please call first to obtain information or schedule an appointment.

TSA on the Attack!

Did CAS actually think that the TSA would just roll over and give up? The onslaught from John Mica has been relentless. His calls for the TSA to let more private contractors into the TSA empire has the TSA scrambling to save their turf.

So, how does the TSA plan on doing this? The best and surest way is to prove that private contractors are not up to the task!

The upcoming audit is only the beginning. We will be bombarded with covert testing as they seek to prove that a private contractor provides an inferior product. If we fail, management will only place the blame on us.

We are only as good as our leadership. The time will soon be upon us when the missteps of management will be exposed. Gerry L. Berry of Winter Springs, Florida should bear the full weight of what is to come. His policies have made this company what it is today! The attitude of CAS is, "we will have this contract no matter what and we will do as we please." Hopefully, the chickens will come home to roost.