TSA
officers at Philadelphia International Airport see alarming rise in coronavirus
cases, union says
As
the pandemic has surged, COVID cases among Transportation Security
Administration employees at Philadelphia International Airport have continued
to rise, doubling from 15 in October to 36 in November, and reaching a running
total of 94 this month, out of about 700 workers.
Among
airports nationwide, PHL has the 11th-highest coronavirus case count for TSA
officers, according to agency data posted this week. PHL ranked 20th in volume
of passenger boardings last year, by the Federal Aviation Administration’s
count for 2019.
The
strain of the pandemic is being felt at home for officers with children in
remote schooling, and it is being felt on the job, where officers see their
coworkers falling ill. They say they often have little room to maintain social
distance from colleagues or passengers, and have been instructed to clean
checkpoints themselves.
“We’re
facing extremely low morale, because they feel leadership doesn’t care or value
their life,” said Lashanda Palmer, an 18-year veteran who caught the virus in
April and serves as executive vice president of Local 333 of the American
Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). “I hear officers express the fear of
catching COVID.”
TSA
officers worked fewer shifts in the spring, during the early days of the
pandemic when travel plummeted. But full staffing resumed ahead of the July 4th
holiday, local union officials said. That has meant more officers commuting to
work on public transportation, and sharing the confines of a security
checkpoint. If a passenger in line is not wearing a mask, TSA officers lack the
authority to require them to do so.
Some
officers have been threatened with discipline for not maintaining social
distance in those tight quarters, say union officials, and others have voiced
concerns that they’ll be disciplined for calling out sick.
“TSA
does not seem to listen to its officers,” said Joe Shuker, president of AFGE
Local 333, which represents Philadelphia TSA workers. “Officers have been
telling them they don’t feel safe and need a solution to child care, not a
Band-Aid.”
A
spokesperson for TSA said “employee infections at Philadelphia and all airports
have been tracking with national rates.” The agency conducts contact tracing
when employees are infected so that others can quarantine, the spokesperson
added. “Based on the narrative inputs from infected employees, a clear majority
of TSA officers who have contracted the virus were exposed outside of work.”
The
head of TSA, David Pekoske, “has consistently asked for help from the workforce
in driving down cases by taking precautions while on duty as well as outside of
work,” the spokesperson said. At a town hall meeting with employees at
Philadelphia International Airport in August, Pekoske “personally reminded the
workforce about the leave categories available to those who are infected or
feeling ill and stressed the importance of taking coronavirus precautions when
they are not at work.”
Officers
are equipped with masks, face shields, and gloves, union officials said. As for
contact tracing, union officials said that TSA relies greatly on reviewing
security footage to determine which employees were in proximity to an infected
person. But that method could miss interactions that aren’t captured on video,
the union said.
Union
leaders stressed that having more leave options for officers while passenger
traffic is still low would help. “It would profoundly reduce exposure,” said
Matthew Culbertson, who’s also an official with Local 333.
“They
should bring in the minimum amount of people they need,” Shuker said.
The
TSA spokesperson acknowledged that air passenger volume remains around 40% of
2019 levels nationwide. “TSA officers on duty open additional checkpoint lanes
as needed to keep wait times down to improve social distancing,” the
spokesperson said. “During periods when passenger volume is slow, they use that
time for online training and disinfecting touch-points within the checkpoint.”
Even
though TSA leadership has told officers it’s their responsibility to clean,
union officials said the supplies are lacking. Officers are armed with Lysol
and a spray bottle with alcohol.
Federal
records show that TSA hired a custodial company to provide COVID-19 cleaning
services at three airports, including Philadelphia International. The $2.4
million contract began in October, according to records, and is scheduled to
run through March. But the union said the contractor hasn’t started yet.
The
TSA spokesperson said the company, Byrd Enterprises Unlimited, will begin
cleaning at PHL next week. A representative of the janitorial company, reached
by phone, said he could not immediately give further details.
The
airport has its own pandemic-related cleaning protocols. In September, PHL
custodial crews started using electrostatic sprayers with a Clorox disinfectant
throughout the terminals. That system is “hitting checkpoints every couple
days,” spokesperson Florence Brown said.
An
additional deep cleaning of TSA areas is carried out by airport staff once a
month, Brown said.
Union
officials said that even after an employee contracts coronavirus, fellow
officers — not professional cleaners — have been tasked with wiping down work
areas. TSA “should be deep cleaning after positive tests of officers and it’s
not happening,” Shuker said.
When
Palmer became sick with COVID-19 in April, “it hit like a ton of bricks,” she
said. “It took everything out of me.” She’d take 10 steps and feel out of
breath. She experienced terrible pain, and was scared to go to the hospital,
because she didn’t want that to be the last place her kids saw her if she
didn’t make it.
Palmer
still doesn’t feel like her health is back to normal. And she’s used up all her
paid leave for the year, as she’s been caring for a son with epilepsy. Her
family, like many others, has had to adjust to a virtual learning environment
during the pandemic. She’s stressed, and so
are her colleagues.
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