"Security hurt by sick time at Newark airport"

Monday, December 6, 2004

Security hurt by sick time at airport 
Newark's baggage screeners out an average of six weeks this year 
BY RON MARSICO 
The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger


Security screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport missed an average
of six work weeks -- on top of their vacation and holiday time -- during the
first 9 1/2 months of this year, government payroll records show. 

The 329,000 hours of absences for the equivalent of 1,320 full-time federal
screeners resulted from sick time, injuries and unpaid leave, according to
records obtained by The Star-Ledger for the period between Jan. 1 and Oct.
16. 
 
Projected across a full year, the average absence per screener would be
about eight weeks. Those missed shifts often leave other workers
short-handed or at posts for longer periods without breaks, said current and
former employees of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which
oversees the nation's screeners. 

The largest chunk of absences, more than 144,000 hours, came from authorized
leaves without pay for such things as personal and maternity leave, and
leaves for workers awaiting termination procedures. Another 55,350 hours
were classified as absent without leave, meaning that they took time off
without permission. 

If that time were averaged among the entire staff, each screener would have
been AWOL the equivalent of five work days this year. 

TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter conceded the airport's leave without pay and
AWOL numbers "are slightly higher than the national average," but said the
overall "absentee rates at Newark are consistent with rates at the nation's
450 airports." 

During the past month, Newark Airport's authorized leaves without pay and
AWOL represented 10 percent of total hours worked. The national average was
6 percent, von Walter said. 

"It's really a handful of employees that are contributing to the bulk of the
leave," said von Walter, noting that termination procedures also are
time-consuming. "That's not an accurate reflection on the rest of the work
force at Newark Airport or the management at Newark Airport." 

Some experts, however, view the absenteeism more seriously. 

"For an ordinary company, (the absentee numbers) sound pretty high," said
Charles Fay, chairman of Rutgers University's human resources management
department. "It looks like they're pretty high compared to non-businesses." 

By contrast, a survey of 458 private companies by Mercer Human Resources
Consulting of Philadelphia found employees took off an average of 11
unscheduled days for all of 2003. The survey's figures applied to companies
that had roughly 5,000 employees with an average annual salary of $40,000. 

Told of the numbers, Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.), a member of the
House Aviation subcommittee which oversees the TSA, said absenteeism among
the airport screeners results in "a less secure airport or incredibly long
waits. And either one is unacceptable." 

Fay and other experts said absences for public sector jobs often are
significantly higher than for the private sector and numbers typically jump
even further in demanding jobs like those of airport screeners. 

"If it is a real super-stress (job) -- which I can believe it is -- that
accounts for some of it," Fay said. "Typically, in higher stress jobs, you
have higher illness (levels)." 

The absentee rate was determined by dividing the number of
full-time-equivalent screener positions into the number of hours missed and
converting to eight-hour work days, which resulted in an average of 31 days
missed per screener. 

Screeners have complained about stressful working conditions at Newark
Airport, saying they are torn between the need to watch for smuggled weapons
and explosives and airlines' demands to keep the lines of passengers moving
as fast as possible. They say the absences sometimes leave passenger lanes
and the machines that test checked luggage for explosives understaffed. 

Most TSA employees at Newark Airport -- one of three airports breached by
terrorists on 9/11 -- are checkpoint screeners who earn slightly above
$30,000 per year. They are prohibited from unionizing. 

Entry level screeners receive four hours of vacation time per two-week pay
period, which comes out to 13 days off per year. 

"When I was leaving the morale was just getting terrible," said Peter
Bernabiti, a Terminal C checkpoint screener who quit TSA in April after 1
1/2 years to take a mortgage banking job. "They want you to do a thorough
job, but they also want you to expedite the passengers through." 

Bernabiti and other current and former screeners and supervisors relate
similar unsettling experiences: Mind-numbingly repetitive tasks, lack of
duty rotations, endless passenger lines, countless bag searches, fatigue
from staring at X-ray screens and standing long hours, as well as back
strains from lifting heavy luggage. 

"It takes its toll," said Bernabiti, 58, of Raritan. "It's a tedious job,
they're really not normal working hours." 

A recent memo from upper management to screeners provides some insight into
the absenteeism problem. 

Just before Thanksgiving, Ray Whelan, Newark Airport's deputy federal
security director, sent screeners a memo telling them they could expect to
work mandatory overtime shifts during the busy holiday weekend because too
few had volunteered. Whelan also sent screeners a warning that unauthorized
absences would not be tolerated. 

"Anyone who calls out sick (or otherwise takes leave without prior approval)
will be required to present appropriate medical documentation when they
return to work, or run the risk of being marked AWOL upon return to duty,"
Whelan wrote. "Being Absent Without Leave will lead to disciplinary action.
We will be monitoring attendance very closely during the holiday season." 

Whelan and Marcus Arroyo, the federal security director at Newark Airport,
declined comment on the screeners' absentee hours. 

Unhappiness among TSA screeners is common at most airports, according to an
internal agency survey. 

Figures released by the TSA in August showed only 35 percent of the
screeners nationwide were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their jobs. A
total of 42 percent reported being "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied"
with their work, while 23 percent said they were "neither" satisfied or
dissatisfied. 

Newark Airport's absentee rates follow a series of problems at the regional
hub under the TSA's watch. 

In May, The Star-Ledger reported thousands of checked bags were going onto
planes each day without being electronically screened for explosives and
checkpoints remained understaffed. Airport officials said there was no risk
to security, but they hired more baggage screeners and eventually said all
checked bags were being properly inspected. 

In October, the newspaper reported screeners missed one in every four fake
bombs or weapons that inspectors attempted to sneak past checkpoints in
weekly tests from June to September, according to confidential TSA
inspection reports.


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