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Ferry security workers walk off in pay spat PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 28 September 2007 09:24
By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published September 28, 2007GALVESTON — Frustrated about not being paid, ferry security employees walked off the job early Thursday morning, forcing the Texas Department of Transportation to search for new companies to screen vehicles.

For more than a year, the state has paid Seawolf Marine Patrol between $69,000 and $73,000 a month to randomly check vehicles in line to board the ferry that travels between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula. No one will say what the screeners are looking for.

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But some screeners say their paychecks have been bouncing for months.

Deborah Wafer, an armed ferry security worker with the company for three months, said her Sept. 11 check bounced and that banks and other agencies have refused to cash her most recent paycheck.

“I’m not trying to make the news or be a hero,” Wafer said. “I went to work, and I should get paid for it.”

Walk Off

Security workers walked off the job early Thursday morning, leaving a gap in screenings from 12:45 a.m. to 6 a.m., said Rick Morris, who oversees safety and security for the transportation department at the ferry landing. Seawolf Marine Patrol CEO Mike Fletcher did not return multiple calls to his cell phone and office.

The lapse has forced the transportation department to begin interviewing other companies to provide ferry security, said department spokesman Norm Wigington. The department has had an emergency purchase order contract with Seawolf Marine Patrol since June 2006, Wigington said. Then, the patrol was the only vendor to apply, said Bill Mallini, the transportation department’s ferry supervisor.

“They’ve done a good job, but there’s been some bumps,” he said. “You could see where this was going. (We thought) let’s get some help before this company basically is unable to do what they’re supposed to.”

The department plans by Oct. 1. to hire two new companies — one to provide security on the Bolivar Peninsula side of the channel the other to provide security on the Galveston side. Wigington said the department didn’t know how much the new companies would cost because they’ve not yet been hired.

Not Screening Cars

Security workers at the ferry landing Thursday did not seem to realize their jobs could be in jeopardy. Morris said there have been no lapses in security screenings since 6 a.m. Thursday. But workers, who would not give their names out of fear they would be fired, have said they weren’t going to screen until they got paid.

Between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., screeners waved through most vehicles, stopping to search only two cars, and only when Morris paid a visit to the screening station.

Some waiting in line expressed concern about the lack of screenings.

“Anybody can get on here with drugs or weapons of mass destruction,” said Ron Hensley, a visitor from Louisiana. “That’s not a very safe thing.”

Others weren’t concerned about the lack of screenings and questioned their necessity.

“If someone wanted to blow this ferry up, I would say it’s pretty easy to do,” said Ray Collins, a Bolivar Peninsula resident.

Collins said he’s ridden the ferry once a week for five years. He’s been screened once, he said, and even then, they didn’t search his closed camper or the boxes he had stowed in the back.

Morris said screeners have a specific search criteria, but he would not say what they are supposed to look for. When searching two trucks Thursday, screeners looked under the hood, in the bed and in coolers. They used a long-handled mirror to look at the truck’s undercarriage.

Controversial Screenings

The security checks are mandated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of the reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but are paid for with state money. The security screenings have been controversial among ferry passengers who’ve questioned whether they are effective, necessary, convenient or worth taxpayer money.

Peninsula residents have said they doubted the ferry was a terrorist target. Even it were, random screenings aren’t effective, the residents complained.

It’s well known that screeners don’t check vehicles when it’s raining or when the wind speed is more than 20 mph.

“Their check is superfluous, very superficial,” Collins said. “No one pays attention.”

Workers Quit

Earlier in the week, Fletcher blamed the bounced checks on a single accounting error and assured his workers they’d be compensated. The company was not in financial trouble, he said.

By Thursday afternoon, several employees had quit and no one seemed able to reach Fletcher. Jeremy Hubbard, who worked for the company for a year, said four of his paychecks bounced. He said he quit after his early morning shift Thursday when he realized no one would cash his check.

“I’m looking for another job — that’s about all I can do,” he said.

Just days earlier, Wigington had said the transportation department was satisfied the pay issue had been resolved.

“At this point, we’re content with the company’s explanation,” he said. “This is, of course, a private matter and, so far, their contract (with the transportation department) has not been violated. We are satisfied with the service the company is providing.”

The transportation department will review Seawolf Marine Patrol’s services and contract, Wigington said. Though the department refused to delve into the internal workings of the company, Mallini said: “It doesn’t take a business major to see there’s an obvious cash flow issue.”
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