Re: NY Times - nuke guards swamped by overtime

["Jim Hoerner" <jim_hoerner@HOTMAIL.COM>]

>From: Norman Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net>

>To: RadSafe

>Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 13:11:04 -0400

>

>GUys,

>All the NY times article does is to raise a concern about too much overtime 

>for

>nuke guards. This is one of the reasons why

>we (unplug) supports Federalizing nuke plant guards, to bring a better 

>level of

>professionalism to this important job, especially in the post-911 climate 

>we all

>find ourselves in.

>

>Norm



Check out the following.

Regards,

Jim



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=676&e=15&u=/usatoday/20021024/ts_usatoday/4561318



Air marshals' low morale spelled out

Thu Oct 24, 7:16 AM ET



Blake Morrison USA TODAY



More than a thousand federal air marshals reported sick in a three-week 

period during the height of the summer travel season, and morale problems in 

the top-secret program appear far more pervasive than Transportation 

Department officials have acknowledged, documents obtained by USA TODAY 

indicate.



One memo, dated Aug. 29, shows that 1,250 air marshals ''reported sick 

during a recent 18-day period.'' The memo, titled ''Team Leader Meeting,'' 

was sent from the scheduling center in Atlantic City.



The memo indicates that morale problems continue to damage a federal program 

that's supposed to improve security and reassure air travelers.



It suggests that many who called in sick weren't sick at all, and concludes 

that ''sick leave abuse has become a serious issue for the (federal air 

marshal) division.''



One marshal who was hired in February explains, ''The only way to get a day 

off is to call in sick.''



Quickly putting more undercover officers aboard flights was billed as a key 

to preventing hijackings. Although the number of air marshals is classified, 

sources say the program grew to almost 6,000 after the Sept. 11 attacks. 

That means at least a fifth of the workforce reported sick during that 

18-day period.



More than 50 current and former air marshals say managers misled them by 

promising four-day workweeks to make up for the constant travel. Instead, 

the marshals say, they are working 12- to 16-hour days, often five days a 

week. All say they have been told they will be fired if they speak publicly.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman said the agency was 

unable to locate the memo. Nonetheless, the agency denies the information.



''No such thing has ever occurred,'' an agency official wrote in a 

statement. ''Any suggestion by anyone to the contrary is simply mistaken or 

uninformed.''



The memo contradicts statements issued by TSA head James Loy, who criticized 

a USA TODAY story in August that documented morale problems.



Loy, in an Aug. 29 letter to the editor, attributed complaints to a ''tiny 

pool'' of ''disgruntled employees.'' But the memo about sick leave -- based 

on a meeting that took place a day before Loy's letter was published -- 

indicates agency leaders had reason to suspect widespread discontent.



''Why can't they be honest and just say, 'We have problems and we're working 

on them,' '' asks Billie Vincent, a former security director of the Federal 

Aviation Administration (news - web sites) who helped expand the marshal 

program in the 1980s.



After the USA TODAY story, the General Accounting Office (news - web sites) 

launched an investigation.



''If things aren't better by January, you're going to see another mass 

exodus,'' says one marshal.



--

Hold the door for the stranger behind you.  When the driver a 

half-car-length in front of you signals to get over, slow down.  Smile and 

say "hi" to the folks you pass on the sidewalk.  Give blood.  Volunteer.







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