Resolution urging the Mayor's Office, the Airport Commission and the Director of San Francisco International Airport to take all additional steps necessary to ensure the job security of the immigrant baggage screeners working at the airport.
WHEREAS, The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, Public Law 107-71, signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001 mandates that all airport security staff be citizens of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, This new law is to be implemented within 90 days of November 19, 2001; and,
WHEREAS, More than 80 percent of the airport baggage screeners working at the San Francisco International Airport are permanent residents of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, When Public Law 107-71 is implemented, over 750 workers will lose their livelihood simply because they are not citizens of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, Many of these airport baggage screeners have given long years of outstanding public service notwithstanding the fact that they have received pay and benefits below what is considered a decent living wage; and,
WHEREAS, Replacing immigrant airport baggage screeners, some of whom have up to 12 years of service, with citizens trained for a mere 45 days does not improve the quality of airport security, but will instead undermine it; and,
WHEREAS, Pilots, air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, mechanics, and flight attendants are not mandated to be U.S. citizens, but they have access to secure areas within San Francisco International Airport; and,
WHEREAS, The requirement of citizenship for airport baggage screeners does not guarantee security for the traveling public, as the case of Timothy McVeigh, a U.S. citizen, who perpetrated the Oklahoma terrorist bombing, demonstrates; and,
WHEREAS, The annual turnover rate of airport baggage screeners at San Francisco International Airport is roughly 15%, as compared to 100% at many of the U.S. airports; and,
WHEREAS, San Francisco International Airport was the first airport in the nation to institute a quality standards program for baggage screeners to address the quality of airline checkpoint security services; and,
WHEREAS, The quality standards program mandates that security screeners at San Francisco International Airport have a high school diploma, be English proficient, and have background check covering 10 years; and,
WHEREAS, Many of the current baggage screeners at San Francisco International Airport are currently applying for citizenship; and,
WHEREAS, Baggage screeners at San Francisco International Airport are currently demoralized for fear of losing their jobs; and,
WHEREAS, Public Law 107-71 allows five airports to retain their privatized security screener workforce as a part of a pilot program; and,
WHEREAS, On December 10, 2001, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 983-01 urging the San Francisco and California Congressional delegation to amend Public Law 107-71 to allow airport security workers to retain their jobs regardless of their citizenship status and urging the San Francisco International Airport to apply to be one of the five airports that could remain privatized; and,
WHEREAS, The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission fully supports the goals of the resolution; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Immigration Rights Commission urges the Mayor's Office, the San Francisco Airport Commission and the Director of San Francisco International Airport to take all necessary steps to secure the jobs of the immigrant baggage screener at San Francisco International Airport, including applying to be one of the five airports that can retain its privatized security screener workforce; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Commission shall send a copy of this resolution to the Mayor's Office, the Airport Commission, the Director of the San Francisco International Airport
