High turnover for baggage screeners.

THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY Administration is searching for a few good men and women to work as baggage screeners at airports. The often backbreaking work, however, offers a small starting salary, a glacially slow hiring process and little time for training because of staff shortages.

Cathleen Berrick, director of homeland security and justice issues at the Government Accountability Office, said that TSA has made improvements, but is still facing difficulty hiring and keeping personnel.

Transportation security officer salaries start at $28,000 per year, which is unchanged since 2002. A 3 percent annual raise is all employees can expect, she told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The annual attrition rate is 23 percent for full-time screeners and 50 percent for part-timers. TSA plans call for 20 percent of the workforce to be part-timers, but the agency has had a difficult time hiring and retaining them at wages of $10 to $12 an hour with no benefits, she said. The officers are also being called to do administrative work, which is creating staffing shortages at checkpoints.

To further complicate matters, many officers are out on disability, mostly due to injuries that were suffered while lifting heavy baggage, she added. TSA estimates it will pay $57 million in workers compensation claims in 2007.

The shortages mean little time for required training, which is done on-line. Meanwhile, some airports lack high-speed Internet access.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley said these concerns are being addressed. The 2007 budget request includes $10 million to improve recruitment and retention. TSA is attempting to decentralize hiring and letting regional managers take charge of the process. "Our goal is, 'Let's train them and keep them,'" Hawley said.