NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- The union representing some baggage screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport says there has been a chronic shortage of the latex gloves used for baggage searches.þþThe federal Transportation Security Administration acknowledged there have been brief glove shortages, but insisted Thursday that those issues had been resolved.þþMembers of the American Federation of Government Employees said the situation is a hazard to screeners and undercuts the TSA's mission to secure the nation's airways because it makes screeners reluctant to conduct hand searches.þþMany of the tens of millions of bags checked or carried aboard aircraft at Newark each year are hand-searched. Screeners are supposed to wear disposable latex gloves provided by the TSA, and to use a new pair of gloves for each bag to avoid the possibility of cross-contamination.þþOn several occasions, for several days each, the union and screeners said, there were no large or extra-large gloves at Terminal C, for international arrivals, forcing baggage screeners to use their bare hands to conduct searches -- if they conducted them at all.þþ``If you're a screener and you're told to go through this bag, and you have no gloves, would you be sure-fired to go through this bag, or would you be hesitant?'' asked Joe Seawright, the Newark organizer for the union, which represents about 30 Newark screeners.þþTSA spokeswoman Ann Davis acknowledged there have been brief glove shortages.þþ``Like any company, we rely on outside vendors to deliver supplies promptly,'' Davis said. ``And there have been some brief occasions where a delivery issue resulted in a brief glove shortage. However, these issues have been resolved.''þþNewark is the only airport among the nation's 30 major hubs where union members have complained of glove shortages, said union official Bill Lyons.þþOnly about 1,000 of the 40,000 or so TSA screeners around the country belong to the union, Lyons said. Because the TSA is exempt from labor rules other agencies must follow, workers often are reluctant to speak out, he said.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
