Airport screeners protesting supervisor selection process
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
About a dozen federal security screeners at Honolulu International Airport are challenging the way supervisors there were hired, saying they were promised positions then passed over in favor of less experienced workers.
Advertiser library photo • Nov. 18, 2002
The head of the new Transportation Security Administration in Honolulu admits that mistakes and miscommunications were made in the process, but said he is trying to correct the problems as new positions become available.
Letrice Titus works a security checkpoint at Honolulu International Airport, where some screeners have expressed unhappiness at the way supervisors are hired.
"We're trying to address it. Eventually, we want those who qualified as a supervisor to get a position," said TSA chief Sidney Hayakawa.
The screeners say the process already has taken too long and could compromise security at the airport.
"They were told they'd be taken care of, then pushed aside," said Alice Antonio, a supervisor with ITS, a private security firm that still does work at the airport.
Like Antonio, who was not hired by the TSA, the unhappy federal screeners all worked as private airport security personnel before the government took over the operation in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The screeners say they were promised supervisory jobs if they passed a federal assessment but were asked to keep working for the private firms during a transition period. By the time they completed the assessment process, all of the supervisory jobs were filled, often by people with no security experience, they said.
"They promised us the world, then left us in a bind," said one worker who is now a federal screener but who would make $10,000 to $15,000 a year more as a supervisor. He did not want his name used because he is a temporary employee for five years and fears losing his job if he criticizes the government.
"I'd be a supervisor right now if I had quit my old job, but since I helped them out at the start, I'm out of luck," he said.
Antonio, who has worked at the airport for 12 years, said many private security personnel weren't even allowed to take the assessment test until most positions were filled.
"They got passed over big time," she said.
Hayakawa said he is trying to correct the problem when new supervisory positions become open but has been hampered by a lack of access to personnel records, which are in the hands of a private firm that was contracted to test and hire TSA agents.
"Our original priority was getting screeners in place. Now that we have done that, we can hire more supervisors," Hayakawa said. "But without the assessment information, I can't be sure who passed the test and who didn't."
Antonio, Hayakawa and others said previous experience in airport security was not a priority in determining who got hired, but they disagree over the importance of that.
"They've got people with no experience at all working as supervisors at all the checkpoints," Antonio said. "They're doing things that aren't right. Maybe they'll learn in time, but it's not good right now."
Hayakawa said good communication and psychological skills were more important than experience in the hirings, but that fact hasn't compromised security.
"Absolutely not," he said. "I'm proud of how fast everyone has gotten up to speed. They're doing a terrific job."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
