TSA pushes ahead on port worker credentials project

The Transportation Security Administration earlier this week formally announced the award of a contract worth at least $70 million to contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. to produce biometric identification cards at ports.

The agreement to produce cards under TSA's Transportation Worker Identity Credentials program is known as an indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract; its value may eventually exceed $70 million. That figure covers the five years of Lockheed's contract, said TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser. The agency will have the option to renew the contract at that point.

Kayser said Lockheed will produce up to 850,000 cards, which will be more than is needed to supply the 750,000 current port workers. The additional cards were included in the contract to cover new hires and turnover at ports, he said.

"Ensuring identities of individuals who have access to secure areas is vital to port security," Kayser said.

But labor union officials criticized TSA's plan.

"They're not producing enough TWIC cards," said International Brotherhood of Teamsters spokesman Galen Munroe, arguing that anticipating a turnover of 100,000 ports jobs is insufficient. He pointed to industry figures suggesting attrition is as high as 130 percent annually in some parts of the ports industry.

Every port worker who has unescorted access to secure areas will have to provide biometric and biographical information -- some as soon as March 26, when TSA initiates the enrollment phase of the project. Information supplied will be cross-screened against databases housing immigration, criminal and intelligence information before workers are approved for TWIC cards.

Kayser said the enrollment process will continue over the next 15 months, until workers at every major U.S. port have supplied biometric information.

TSA published its final rules on implementation of the credentials program earlier this month, prompting criticism from union officials.

Port workers who must buy the cards should not be subject to a wait of a year or longer while owners and operators buy and install credentialing equipment, opponents have argued. They also said the program would impose excessive costs on workers. According to initial estimates, workers were expected to pay nearly $160 for cards that would be valid for five years.

TSA has not set a deadline for installation of card readers, Kayser said. But he said the projected cost of the cards has dropped to about $137 per worker under the Lockheed contract. Those who have already completed comparable background checks will be able to seek a discounted fee of $105, he said. Comparable checks include ones necessary to meet requirements to drive commercial hazardous materials or obtain merchant mariner documents or Free and Secure Trade credentials.

Along with the lower-than-expected price tag, TSA and Lockheed are trying to accommodate workers' needs by putting the contractor-run enrollment sites as close as possible to ports, Kayser said. Munroe said the $137 price tag per card cards is still too high for port workers and their families to cover themselves.