"Part-Time Security Officers Hired at BIA, Portland"

Friday, December 8, 2006

Part-Time Security Officers Hired at BIA, Portland
By Toni-Lynn Robbins
The Bangor (MA) Daily News 


The Transportation Security Administration has announced the hiring of
part-time security officers at the Bangor and Portland airports, but
officials deny the jobs resulted from improved airport business.

"At this point I haven't seen an increase in passenger numbers that would
justify the need for additional [TSA] staff," said Rebecca Hupp, Bangor
International Airport's director.

TSA officials said the hiring has simply resulted from natural attrition.
The organization noted that nationally, the number of part-timers leaving
the TSA jobs declined by 25 percent this year. Rather than replacing Bangor
and Portland's vacant positions with full-time employees, officials said
part-time workers fit the airports' needs more efficiently.

"TSA seeks to achieve a balance between full-time and part-time," said Ann
Davis, TSA's regional spokeswoman. "The benefit of part-time employees is
they typically work during the busiest travel periods, which is a few hours
in the morning and afternoon."

TSA shuffles its employees between airports annually, based on each
facility's number of flights, passengers and other factors. Congress
mandated a 43,000 full-time-equivalent cap for the number of security
officers employed nationally by the federal government. Two part-time
employees, who work between 20 and 32 hours, are equivalent to one full-time
position.

Davis said she was unable to find the exact number of TSA security officers
currently employed at the Bangor and Portland airports.

Davis said the administration does not hire seasonal workers, and despite
the recent holiday season, the search for new employees did not come from
the holiday push. New employees have to undergo a minimum of 100 training
hours and then pass an exam before beginning their shifts.

"We usually cast a wide net and hope we attract a strong pool of candidates
that make it through the training process," Davis said. "That way we have a
strong candidate pool available for when vacant seats become available."

The new part-time security officers would be paid $12.72 an hour and receive
federal benefits, including health and life insurance.

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