Covenant Employees: Did you get a Christmas bonus this year?

Of course not!

Your Christmas "bonus" came from passing your PSE test on your first attempt.  If you didn't pass on your first attempt you received a big fat zero for your "bonus."

The true colors of Covenant Aviation, LLC. are shining as brightly as ever.  And yet they want a truly motivated workforce.  Employees are following the lead of management: Money is the best motivator of all!

Are you enjoying your quarterly bonus?

Covenant Aviation, the profit before product company, announced last week that our quarterly bonus would be in our paychecks dated 5/29/15.

For screeners, that amounts to 83 cents per day; for supervisors it amounts to $1.66 per day.  Just how much did our stellar management team get?

Are you feeling appreciated? Are you motivated to provide "world class customer service"?  Or are you following the lead of our management team and are only in it for the money?

Once again, we will state the obvious:  "The quality of the only product that you have to offer is determined solely by the example set in place by management!"

Really, Uncle Mike?

Uncle Mike just doesn't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation between the workforce and management. Doesn't the evidence speak for itself?  Why is he failing to acknowledge that his style of management just doesn't work?

Does he honestly think that the steps that management has taken will inspire the workforce to increase performance? Just what motivation does he think will be created by withholding the 3rd quarter "Courtesy and Helpfulness" bonus? Quite the contrary!  This step has only inflamed the workforce. It didn't work before, why would you expect it to work now?  

Covenant Aviation Security placing 26th out of 30 in Courtesy and Helpfulness should be a wake up call.  Let's just continue along the same path and see where it leads.  Let's just continue to stick it to the workforce as usual!

Uncle Mike, why don't you try something that might work? How about showing some respect and appreciation? How about treating the workforce in a way that acknowledges the reason that CAS has lasted over 11 years? Do you still think that all the backroom deals and cozy relationships will save this contract?  You even acknowledge this point in your own "Internal Company Confidential" letter, dated November 26, 2013.  To quote: "our expectation is that our TSA contract will run through July 31st, 2015."  The key words here are "our expectation" -- in other words, there is no guarantee!

Uncle Mike, you are right about one thing:  that the expectations of the stakeholders remain as high as ever.  Just what is your plan to create an atmosphere that will produce a service that meets these goals?

The workforce will once again follow the examples displayed by management.  Start showing that you value the contributions made by the workforce!

What do we have?

The TSA has something called, "Workforce Engagement." Its stated purpose is to, "ensure that all employees at all levels are informed, inspired and supported so they can effectively contribute their expertise and enthusiasm to the success and performance of the TSA."  Do we have anything like that at Covenant?  Absolutely not!

What we do have is a management team that does everything it can to keep us uninformed. What we do have is a management team that does nothing to keep us inspired and motivated. This management team has shown its utter contempt for the workforce by sticking it to us as often, and as hard, as they can. 

We have all had a recent sampling of the value that Covenant places on the contributions of the workforce. We have just received a quarterly bonus of 100 dollars which, after taxes, nets out somewhere around 60 dollars.  Or, as we like to look at it, less than a net total of a dollar a day.

This profit-before-product company takes away several thousand of dollars in givebacks and take-away and in return they proudly announce this embarrassing quarterly bonus!  Does any employee not see how little they think of us?

Once again, we are stating, for the record, that there is absolutely and undeniably no cost advantage between a for profit-at-any-cost_private contractor and the TSA.  The budget would be the same, the only difference is that a for profit company, such as Covenant Aviation, is purely motivated by greed versus the TSA which is totally focused on providing the highest level of security possible.

We hope that Covenant is seen for what they are and that their days at SFO will soon come to an end.

Are you as stunned as we are?

In a letter from JLP, he attempts to address the rumors that he was made aware of through Facebook.

According to Mr. J.Pee, the likelihood of a TSA takeover of the screening operations at SFO will never happen. According to Mr. J.Pee, CAS does the best job of performing screening operations at a CAT X airport.  Perhaps he should share that information with Uncle Mike.

Yes, the same Uncle Mike who has decided to loosen the purse strings and dole out a $100 quarterly bonus to all of us.

Let's see, that breaks down to a dollar and a penny per day.  Gee, Uncle Mike, are you for real?  Is that how little you think of the contributions made by the workforce?  Is that how little you think of our performance, which has allowed you to keep your job with your lofty salary?  Isn't it nice to have a management team that recognizes the true value of the workforce?

Once again, this "profit-before-product" company known as CAS has shown that the only things that they really appreciate are the almighty dollars that line their collective pockets, courtesy of the workforce.




Now, why is it that they deserve to have this contract any longer?

CAS giving us the bird once again!

On December 5th, CAS will once again be giving us the "bird"  for our combination Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.  Rumor has it that CAS will not be handing out the year-end bonuses at this time.  It seems that they are planning to hand them out after the rank-and-file vote on their latest CBA offering.  This is a blatant attempt to influence the outcome of the vote!  Where's their Christmas spirit?

And as for the "surprise" visitor,  if it isn't the TSA Administrator, John Pistole, announcing a federal takeover of SFO -- please have him or her stay at home. 

And, speaking about the vote, we urge all of you to vote a resounding "no" on this insult.  

We all know that the union is pushing for passage on this offer saying, "this is the best that we can do."  How so?  Has anyone heard of our union submitting any kind of alternative offer to CAS?  They have only "accepted " this slightly better offer thinking, in their "small" minds, that they have actually won the battle.  They were, and still are, totally unqualified to bargain and represent us. 

And, will there be an outside unaffiliated monitor present during the counting of the votes?  We certainly hope so!

Vote "No" On This Lastest Offer From CAS!

This offer is full of take away items and give backs.

The company wants you to focus on the raise that they want to give you.  They want you to focus on the number of sick hours we will receive.  They want you to focus on the fact that they will pay 85% of any hospitalization costs if you are admitted for care.  They want you to focus on your PTO carryover and new accrual table.  It's a classic case of misdirection!

Focus on this instead:

Under this latest plan, you would lose your parking allowance.  Your PTO accrual rate would be lower than it was under the old plan.  Your up-front and out-of-pocket expenses for your medical coverage would skyrocket.  

The raise that they plan to give us would be funded by the givebacks and takeaway items.  Do the math!  Multiply the monthly parking allowance by twelve.  Compare the number of PTO days that we should have to what they are offering, and then multiply that by your hourly wage.  Your co-pay per medical visit would double.  Your hospitalization cost would go from zero to 15% of the total cost, to a maximum of $3,000 per year.  And that is just for someone with no dependents!  That number jumps to $6,000 for someone with a family.  

Now, total up these differences (along with some that we have not listed), and subtract from that total the amount of the raise that they plan to award us.  As you can see, they would be giving us a raise with the money that they are planning to take away from us.  Imagine this:  you take $2000 from me, then later tell me, "You're such a good friend, I'm going to give you $500 as a gift."  Can we see how they don't want us to focus on where the money is coming from?  Is it truly a benefit to us?

Now why would SEIU tell us to vote "yes" on an offer like this?  

Let's see!  CAS declared that negotiations were at an impasse.  An impasse means that we are now an "Open Shop."  An "Open Shop" means that no one has to pay any dues -- which means that the union is working for free.  Yikes! They can't have that!

So, what's a union to do?  How about accepting and endorsing an offer like this to get the dues money flowing again.  Never mind that it is a very bad deal for the employees; they want their dues.

We heard through the rumor mill that the union plans to put this offer up for vote early next week.  Spend some time reviewing for yourself the information that we have just presented. 

We strongly urge a "No" vote on this latest insult!

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."

Bonus Checks

It would be real easy and simple to complain about our bonus checks, particularly the size of it. But to be fair, we really shouldn't. As one who regularly rails against the company for the many negative things it does, we should be grateful. Especially when we consider that supervisors, managers, and local TSA will not be getting raises again.

Yes, we know, they make more money than we do and it is easy not to feel sorry for them, but you'd be peeved too. So we have come up with a solution to this matter.

Cut the fat. Have any of you noticed how every time you turn around there is a new TSA suit? How many of these TSA "managers" does SFO really need? Why are our tax dollars being wasted for all of this management redundancy? When you factor in all of the managers that Covenant has, why is there this need for all of these other TSA suits?

So for TSA, we suggest you get rid of some of that excess. Maybe then TSA can afford to give the rest of you a raise.

Speaking of excessive management, have you ever wondered what exactly is the difference between an ATM and a TM other than pay and title? Yeah, after 8 years we're still trying to figure that one out as well as why we need so many, especially when you factor in the Floor Supervisors. Then again, Floor Supervisors exist so that they can relieve the ATMs and TMs of some of their inordinate amount of work.

Just as we suggested with the TSA folks, get rid of some of that excess. Perhaps then Gerry Berry will be able to scrounge up some coins from his pocket to give the remaining CAS management a raise.

Ahhh, but who do they get rid of??? Well, if this were run like a real business, they'd get rid of the less than stellar people. And only the cream of the crop would remain The problem with that is that it would require a little forethought, something the bosses of CAS care not to do.

So enjoy your bonuses and try not to spend it all in one place.