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Securing Qualified Screeners
Airport Jobs helps Sea-Tac quintuple national rate for keeping qualified security screeners through federalization process

Port Jobs Reports, Summer 2003


	Charles Barrett
	Judi Johnson, ESL Instructor with South Seattle Community College, was a key partner in peparing incumbent screeners.

When Annette West first heard that the Federal government was taking over the pre-board screener positions – including her own – she wasn’t alarmed. “I thought we all would become federal employees and our uniforms would simply change,” she said.

Then it was announced that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the newly created division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, would hire only US citizens. “Many screeners became worried that they’d lose their jobs. I realized that I didn’t know what the Federal qualifications would be or whether the TSA would hire me,” recalled West.

Following the passage of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, nearly 1,000 Sea-Tac Airport pre-board screeners faced layoffs.  Changes in citizenship and English fluency requirements meant that many incumbent screeners didn’t meet the Federal job qualifications.

Also, many screeners had limited computer experience, making the TSA’s online application and computer testing extraordinarily challenging for them.

One afternoon West saw an Airport Jobs flyer in the break room offering help preparing for the TSA application.

“I hadn’t heard of Airport Jobs before,” said West, “so I stopped in to check on practice testing and to submit the initial TSA questionnaire online.”

West was one of many incumbent screeners who took advantage of a unique partnership between Port Jobs and local organizations – including South Seattle Community College (SSCC), the Fluency Group, the King County Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association – to assist screeners with the TSA application process.  These partners provided a variety of services including informational meetings, English proficiency assessments, vocational English-as-a-second-language training, citizenship clinics, application workshops and the opportunity to practice computer test taking.

“I was in the Airport Jobs office practically every day,” said West, who took online grammar and reading tests that helped pinpoint her weak areas.  She also took advantage of application workshops taught by Judi Johnson and Jim Tierney from SSCC.

“The practice interviews were the best,” said West, “We went over lots of possible interview questions.  Before the test I wrote out responses to all the questions that might be asked, so I felt really prepared.”


IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"Without this program I would not be in school right now. I have four kids. I couldn't find a job. But I could not begin to do all that paperwork to go into training. I didn't understand the first step to take to get this money for training."		"We screeners are so thankful to have someone that really cares for us. We will never forget how you've helped us."
"I received information through this project that I was not able to access through any other office in King or Pierce County."		"I really appreciate what the Airport Jobs staff did for the screeners. They really care about the screeners and they've been with us all the way."

West found that using the computer was a big help too.

“In the beginning I didn’t know how to answer questions the way I needed to on the computer.  I had barely used the Internet before.” Airport Jobs also helped West set up an email account so she could be contacted by the TSA.  Staff pulled her unemployment benefits report, so West knew what to expect if she was laid off and could make a plan.

During the transition, Airport Jobs and its partners provided training and workshops to over 750 laid-off screeners.  This work has paid off:  50% of incumbent screeners from Sea-Tac who were assessed passed and were offered positions with the TSA.  Nationally, the percentage of screeners passing the assessments in airports comparable to Sea-Tac has been 10%.

“Over this past year, it was great to work in partnership with TSA, South Seattle Community College and others to help so many incumbent screeners successfully transition to the new positions,” said Ruth Westerbeck, Airport Jobs Program Manager.  “We are also continuing to assist laid-off screeners, through funding from the King County Dislocated Worker Program, to connect them with benefits and career training during their career transition.”

“I think this project has been highly successful because we’ve worked closely with the screeners since the beginning of the big changes here at SeaTac,” said Judi Johnson, ESL Instructor with South Seattle Community College.  “We’ve seen them through the whole process of the TSA takeover- the uncertainty about what would happen when the TSA came in to SeaTac, the distress of taking the TSA exam, the grief of losing their jobs and then the glimmers of hope that they might be able to reconstruct their lives and start training for a new career.”

Annette was officially laid off on Oct 1st of this year and was sworn in by the TSA on October 6th. One big change is that she now has benefits.  “I’ve taken advantage of a retirement savings plan.  I have medical and dental benefits.  My bus pass is covered.  This leaves me with more money in my pocket.”

The services Airport Jobs provided made a difference.  “I don’t think I would have passed the interview or the computer test without the preparation.  Airport Jobs and SSCC did a great job of telling us what was expected and helping us get ready,” said West.  “There were so many of us facing lay-offs, it would have been a huge amount of unemployment.  Airport Jobs wanted to make sure we were at our best when we took the TSA test.  They wanted us to have every opportunity to succeed.”

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