"Tethered Detroit Metro Airport janitors had escorts"

Tuesday, May 22, 2002

Tethered janitors had escorts 
Northwest employees watched the midfield crew 
BY DANIEL G. FRICKER
THE DETROIT (MI) FREE PRESS


At a time of intense scrutiny of security at the nation's airports,
Northwest Airlines had to assign dozens of employees to escort janitors
at Detroit Metro Airport because the janitors did not have security
clearances. 

Some of the janitors appeared to have criminal pasts. 

Northwest acknowledged Tuesday that it assigned up to 30 employees per
day to escort janitors at the midfield terminal because the cleaners had
not undergone 10-year criminal background checks needed to obtain
airport security badges. 

The airline said it gradually reduced the number of escorts and ended
the practice Friday after more than two months. 

"They were no longer needed," spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert said. 

She declined to elaborate. 

Northwest employees who escorted the janitors said they saw up to 10 of
the cleaners wearing electronic ankle tethers -- indicating they were
being monitored for offenses. Several janitors admitted having committed
crimes, the escorts said. 

"I believe there were people on the property who were convicted of
felonies who were escorted by Northwest Airlines," said Al Wojcik,
district chairman of the International Association of Machinists. 

The union represents Northwest baggage handlers, ticket counter agents
and aircraft cleaners. The airline assigned dozens of the employees to
work as escorts, sometimes at time-and-a-half or double-time pay, union
officials said. 

Schubert declined to say how much Northwest paid employees to serve as
escorts. Airport officials declined to say whether background checks
conducted by the FBI had uncovered felons working at the terminal as
janitors. 

Federal law prohibits airports from issuing security badges to most
felons, if they were convicted after Dec. 6, 1991, said a spokeswoman
for the Transportation Security Administration, the agency created after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

But felons may work in areas beyond airport security checkpoints, if
they are escorted. 

"It is not illegal for them to be working there as long as they do not
have unescorted access to secured areas," agency spokeswoman Deirdre
O'Sullivan said. 

But Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation inspector
general, said employing criminals as airport janitors defies common
sense. 

"When you've got a chain gang in an airport, it's a pretty bad
situation," said Schiavo, author of the 1997 book "Flying Blind, Flying
Safe." 

Northwest was forced to begin the escorts days after opening the 97-gate
midfield terminal on Feb. 24. 

On Feb. 26, Johnson Controls Inc., the Milwaukee company Northwest hired
to manage operations at the midfield terminal, fired Preferred Building
Service, the Detroit company that was awarded the cleaning contract. The
firing came after Preferred laid off 126 union employees because they
refused to accept a 25-percent pay cut and loss of seniority and
benefits. 

Faced with cleaning the 2-million-square-foot complex, Johnson hired
more than six janitorial companies on a temporary basis, said Renee
Jennings, Johnson's Michigan area general manager. 

The cleaning companies rushed in crews of temporary employees who had
not undergone the federally mandated background investigations needed to
work in high-security areas. 

On May 1, Coyote Cleaning Inc. began cleaning the midfield terminal
under a 3-year contract with Johnson. The Romulus company is owned by
Vince Hebel, who also owns Roadrunner Maintenance, which had been one of
the companies cleaning the terminal. 

A Northwest baggage handler said he was escorting janitors on March 3
when he noticed something unusual about one of the cleaners. 

"I just happened to notice this sort of bulge on his ankle," said the
baggage handler, who asked not to be named because he fears losing his
job. "At first, I wondered whether he had a gun. So, I go, 'Is that a
tether you are wearing?' and he said, 'Yeah, I got into a jam.' I didn't
pursue it any further. It was none of my business." 

A baggage handler crew chief who served as an escort said he saw up to
10 janitors wearing electronic ankle tethers. When a few of the janitors
inquired about airline jobs, the crew chief said he told them they would
have to pass a 10-year criminal background check. 

"Some of them would tell me 'I had a felonious assault' or some would
just tell me 'I have a felony charge so that would wipe me out,' " said
the crew chief, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing
his job. 

Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest carrier, said it received one
report of a janitor wearing an ankle tether. 

"Months ago, it was reported after the fact that an employee was wearing
an ankle tether, but we were never able to confirm that," Schubert said.


But Coyote Cleaning's Hebel acknowledged that one of his crew
supervisors at the midfield terminal wears an ankle tether. The
supervisor is required to wear the tether because his driver's license
was suspended, Hebel said. 

Hebel said he had heard about employees of other janitorial companies at
the midfield terminal wearing tethers. "There was definitely an issue
with the tethers," he said. 

In Michigan, a person convicted within 7 years of driving without a
valid license a third, fourth or fifth time must wear an ankle tether
for up to 3 years. 

About 75 percent of Coyote's 122 janitors have received airport security
badges after undergoing the FBI criminal history check, Hebel said. The
FBI has not completed checks on the other 25 percent. 

Three Coyote janitors have been disqualified for airport security badges
as a result of the FBI criminal background checks, Hebel said.


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