The SEIU is the most famous contributor to Democratic campaigns after George Soros' non-profits. But we must be careful to distinguish between the SEIU and other unions. Other unions are close to many Democratic politicians, and may be useful to the TSO's cause in the future. SEIU's largest success in politics stems from the longtime support of Barack Obama by SEIU Local 1 in Chicago. So they have an inside track on some of President Obama's priorities, just like they used to have with Blagojevich in Illinois.
Heading into November, SEIU's political power is on a downtrend, in part because of the unpopular policies that Obama pushed and might benefit SEIU (Obamacare, stimulus, Michelle Obama's school lunch program). But that doesn't mean SEIU can't be useful this November. SEIU maintains a Committee on Political Education (COPE), which is built on voluntary contributions from their staff and members. And this committee can help defeat CAREER POLITICIAN DAN LUNGREN. LUNGREN is financially supported by GERRY BERRY, PRESIDENT of COVENANT AVIATION SECURITY LLC.
SEIU COPE will waste a lot of money this October and early November, but any money spent in support of Dr. Bera's campaign against two-time Congressman DAN LUNGREN is certainly welcome. They ponied up $5,000 in the primary, I say double down for the general.
A blog dedicated to the TSOs, LTSOs, and BDOs at San Francisco International Airport that work for Covenant Aviation Security, LLC (CAS).
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
September Madness
Once again we are getting a shining example of CAS management at their finest. The employee movements at both Checkpoint and Checked Baggage are in full swing. Available PTO slots for the month of September have vanished. Once again Operational needs outweigh our need to spend time with our families. Once again we are not suppose to have a life.
With the staffing levels so low we are asked once again to make up for the ineptitude of our wonderful management team. At what point will CAS admit to, what the rest of us already know, the fact that the people we have doing the job of scheduling need to be replaced? What has to happen for these realizations and revelations to hit them squarely over the head? Nothing has changed! These people are the new "Untouchables".
CAS will never admit that they made a mistake, so, let's just keep things the way that they are, maybe nobody will notice. Don't worry, we will gladly point out to you the deficiencies that we see in your managerial skills.
Get the staffing levels to the proper level. Live up to your contractual obligations that you have with TSA. Open up the overtime slots and stop trying to make it so we are all dog tired. We are reaching the breaking point.
When will TSA step in and do something about this!
With the staffing levels so low we are asked once again to make up for the ineptitude of our wonderful management team. At what point will CAS admit to, what the rest of us already know, the fact that the people we have doing the job of scheduling need to be replaced? What has to happen for these realizations and revelations to hit them squarely over the head? Nothing has changed! These people are the new "Untouchables".
CAS will never admit that they made a mistake, so, let's just keep things the way that they are, maybe nobody will notice. Don't worry, we will gladly point out to you the deficiencies that we see in your managerial skills.
Get the staffing levels to the proper level. Live up to your contractual obligations that you have with TSA. Open up the overtime slots and stop trying to make it so we are all dog tired. We are reaching the breaking point.
When will TSA step in and do something about this!
BART Surcharge to Change
Sorry for reporting this so late, but for those of you that haven't been keeping up with the whole BART surcharge debacle, here is the latest. According to the SF Chronicle, BART is finally ready to reduce the airport surcharge from $4 to $1.50. The change is expected to take place in less than a month.
For those of you that are taking the shuttle from the Milbrae BART to the airport, that will of course end once this takes place.
Let's rant a little here. It is ridiculous that the airport and BART stick it to the very airport workers that run the place. Why is it that there's a surcharge for employees at all? Why can't they just end the surcharge all together for employees? BART will still continue to receive the standard fare. If they can find a way to reduce it to $1.50, they can find a way to eliminate the surcharge all together.
BART is another prime example of an inefficiently run government entity. They have continued to operate in the red for years with no immediate sign that they're going to ever get in to the black.
Couple this with the outrageous price of $225 a quarter for airport parking and you have the airport sticking it to the employees even more. Oakland charges approximately a third of what SFO charges their employees for parking.
SFO is notorious for their exorbitant prices. Remember, the out of whack landing fees at SFO is what caused Southwest Airlines to originally leave. One can only assume that Southwest worked out some kind of deal with the SFO bureaucracy in order for them to come back.
Meanwhile, worthless managers at Covenant Aviation Security, continue to get company paid parking privileges at domestic garages. One can only guess how much Covenant Aviation Security has to shell out for each of those parking passes.
Bottom line, BART is a crappy deal with or without the airport surcharge.
For those of you that are taking the shuttle from the Milbrae BART to the airport, that will of course end once this takes place.
Let's rant a little here. It is ridiculous that the airport and BART stick it to the very airport workers that run the place. Why is it that there's a surcharge for employees at all? Why can't they just end the surcharge all together for employees? BART will still continue to receive the standard fare. If they can find a way to reduce it to $1.50, they can find a way to eliminate the surcharge all together.
BART is another prime example of an inefficiently run government entity. They have continued to operate in the red for years with no immediate sign that they're going to ever get in to the black.
Couple this with the outrageous price of $225 a quarter for airport parking and you have the airport sticking it to the employees even more. Oakland charges approximately a third of what SFO charges their employees for parking.
SFO is notorious for their exorbitant prices. Remember, the out of whack landing fees at SFO is what caused Southwest Airlines to originally leave. One can only assume that Southwest worked out some kind of deal with the SFO bureaucracy in order for them to come back.
Meanwhile, worthless managers at Covenant Aviation Security, continue to get company paid parking privileges at domestic garages. One can only guess how much Covenant Aviation Security has to shell out for each of those parking passes.
Bottom line, BART is a crappy deal with or without the airport surcharge.
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.
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.
Checkpoint Lead Interviews have begun
For those of you that applied for the Checkpoint Lead position, we here at Security First @ SFO wish you all the very best. Let's just hope that they make a similarly wise choice for this position as they did with the recent Checked Baggage STSO position.
To those DFOs that were flat out denied an interview because you either made the mistake of going Dual Function or were drafted against your will in to the classification, we can only off our deepest empathy. It's a hard road to follow, but just remember that our CTX brethren were denied virtually any promotion for the last three years.
This current regime won't last. And then things will change, and then they'll change back to the way they were. The more things change, the more they stay the same. So just wait it out. Perhaps in due time, you will become loved again.
To those DFOs that were flat out denied an interview because you either made the mistake of going Dual Function or were drafted against your will in to the classification, we can only off our deepest empathy. It's a hard road to follow, but just remember that our CTX brethren were denied virtually any promotion for the last three years.
This current regime won't last. And then things will change, and then they'll change back to the way they were. The more things change, the more they stay the same. So just wait it out. Perhaps in due time, you will become loved again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)