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Border Patrol Council - Local 1613 (San Diego, CA)

COMMISSIONER BASHAM VISITS SAN DIEGO SECTOR

November 7, 2007 (Murrieta Border Patrol Station - San Diego Sector)

By Chris Bauder, President, NBPC Local 1613

On November 6, 2007, the helicopter carrying Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham arrived at the Murrieta Border Patrol Station.  As soon as the helicopter landed, supervisory officials at the MUR BPS scurried around the station to round up the agents and direct them to the muster room.  As agents entered the muster room, they were greeted by a barrage of commands by Special Operations Supervisor Walter Davenport.  Apparently, someone tasked Davenport with preparing the muster room for the Commissioner’s arrival, and Davenport acted as though this was the most important task he received in his career.  Davenport demanded all agents in uniform fill in the seats in the front of the room.  Before agents had a chance to move or figure out who he was shouting at, Davenport shouted, “if there is an empty seat in front of you, move to it now!”  After Davenport was done yelling at the agents in uniform, he turned his direction to the remainder of the people in the room and insisted that they find a seat.  Davenport continued his tantrum until just about everyone in the room was seated.  In just a few minutes prior to the Commissioner entering the room, SOS Davenport successfully demonstrated a major problem that exists within the Border Patrol and exemplified the attitude of some managers toward the agents. 

                

 

Formal Discussion during the muster at MUR BPS:

As I sat there listening to agents joke about Davenport’s behavior, the door to the muster room opened and Commissioner Basham entered.  Included in his entourage were the following individuals:

Commissioner Basham introduced himself and briefly mentioned the two Associate Commissioners who were traveling with him.  The Commissioner commended the agents for a job well-done during the recent wildfires.  He briefly turned the floor over to Chief Fisher who also thanked the agents for their performance during the fires.  Then, Commissioner Basham discussed the importance of our mission of protecting America and spoke about all the money that was pouring into our agency because of the focus on our mission.  After he finished speaking, he opened the formal discussion up to questions.  

[NOTE: This is a brief synopsis of what was discussed and is not an exact transcript of the discussion or the questions.  If we missed a question, we apologize in advance.  We did our best to recall as much of the discussion as possible. Names of agents have been intentionally withheld. Notes similar to this one will appear throughout this article to clarify the Union's position or provide commentary on the discussion.]

Question 1 (Jerry Bobo, 1613 Rep assigned to MUR): Is there any talk about upgrading agents to GS-12?

Response: We are currently engaged in that conversation now. 

[NOTE: This statement contradicts Chief Aguilar’s response to the same question.  During a muster at the CHU BPS, Chief Aguilar said a GS-12 upgrade was not an option since a GS-11 SPA currently makes more money than a GS-12 SBPA.]

Question 2 (SPA from MUR): Discussed the different retirement plans offered to local law enforcement and briefly compared FERS to CSRS and asked if anyone was looking to improve the current retirement plan.

Commissioner Basham said that was an issue that affected the entire federal law enforcement community and needed to be addressed nation-wide.

Question 3 (Shawn Moran, Local 1613 VP): Question about how we are recruiting people and how applicants are being pushed through oral hiring boards and the Academy and not being properly vetted and instead are being sent to the stations.

Commissioner disagreed that we are pushing people through the Academy.  Commissioner said the same thing that Chief Aguilar said at the CHU muster.  He asked if the agents present knew Border Patrol Academy Chief Charlie Whitmire.  Commissioner said anyone who knows Chief Whitmire knows he is not going to allow any degradation of the training at the Academy.

Moran rejected the Commissioner’s statements about the Academy training.  Moran said that “the instructors at the Academy said that the standards continue to be lowered.”

Commissioner said “I just don’t see it.” He said “I ran the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for four years.”  He also said, “I built Artesia for the purpose of training Border Patrol Agents.”  Then, he talked about how they invited former Agents out to Artesia and went through all the training with them.  He said that the former agents went out and saw all this training and made an inspection and they disagree.  He said, “I haven’t seen any degradation in the quality of agents.” 

[NOTE: On September 12, 2007, ten retired Border Patrol officers (five from NAFBPO and five from FORBPO) received a briefing at the Border Patrol Academy.  According to an article written by Kent Lundgren, President of NAFBPO, the meeting was held at the request of Chief Aguilar and travel was funded by the Office of Border Patrol.  However, the briefing they received was presented by Chief Aguilar and Chief Whitmire.  In addition, five other sector Chiefs were present to answer any questions related to the quality of agents entering on duty in those sectors. There does not appear to be much mention of randomly selected, private discussions with non-supervisory agents serving as instructors so this could be the reason why NAFBPO and FORBPO endorsed the training at the Academy. However, after reading that article, I am sure you will appreciate knowing the money they saved with the "clean shift" initiative was probably used to pay for the travel of those ten individuals to review the Academy. the five sector Chiefs, and Chief Aguilar.  It appears Chief Aguilar is very tight with the spending when it pertains to the rank and file (i.e. clean shifts, K-9 handlers negatively affected by delays in requesting a waiver for the OT cap, travel for details, etc.), but is eager to spend money on those who retired (i.e. rehired annuitant program).]

Moran questioned the Agency’s remediation program for trainees, which allows trainees numerous attempts to pass various portions of the Academy.

Commissioner disagreed and questioned why it would be a bad idea to give trainees a second chance if they were not succeeding in an area and referred to the cost of training new agents as justification.

[NOTE: The Union’s position on remediation is not related to a trainee being given a “second” chance.  It is related to trainees being given a second, third, and fourth chance to pass various aspects of the Academy.]

Chief Fisher asked the agents if they actually thought they were prepared for the field when they left the Academy.  He expanded on the purpose of the Field Training Units and the in-field training that occurs for years after the trainee leaves the Academy to become an agent.  Chief Fisher said "I had no business being a Border Patrol Agent for the first couple of months or for the first couple of years” after coming out of the Academy.   He explained how he relied upon other Border Patrol Agents to help make him become a Border Patrol Agent.  He said if you are waiting for some “magic pill” or “some training protocol that’s going to turn out Border Patrol Agents that walk into this muster when they come back from this Academy, they are quote on quote like us, it’s not going to happen.”

[NOTE: Again, the Union fully recognizes that a trainee does not come out of the Academy as an “experienced” agent and nobody was saying anything remotely close.  However, the Union questions the “quality” of applicants that are being hired, the quality of training being provided at the Academy, and the apparent failure or refusal of the Academy management to separate an employee who is not suited to be in law enforcement.  Commissioner Basham needs to watch “The Academy” and see how the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department runs their Academy to understand our point. In fact, after he watches it, he should discuss retention in the Border Patrol since he will discover a former Border Patrol Agent appears on that program as a recruit for LASD.]

Commissioner Basham followed-up with Chief Fisher’s comments and reiterated how he disagreed with the idea that trainees should only be given “one shot” to pass the Academy.  Commissioner said that the Agency is investing too much time and resources in trainees to push them out if they are having a hard time with driving, firearms.

[NOTE: The Union cannot understand how the Commissioner can be so concerned with investing resources with trainees and not concerned with retaining experienced Border Patrol Agents.  I wonder if Commissioner Basham knows that his LER people are proposing termination on experienced agents for minor administrative violations instead of giving those agents a second chance, i.e. the agent from Tucson who swore at a supervisor.]

Thane Gallagher, Local 1613 Secretary, explained the training he received as a Field Training Officer for the FTU.  He elaborated on how the new Academy is eleven weeks and how eleven weeks is not enough time to train new agents.  He discussed the training curriculum and how the responsibility of filtering out trainees was shifted from the Academy to the Field Training program.  Gallagher said he does not understand why we are allowing the trainees so many chances to get through the Academy. 

Commissioner Basham said he did not understand and argued the same point as Chief Fisher that nobody in the room arrived from the Academy as an experienced Agent.  He repeatedly said he disagreed with a philosophy of training that only gave a trainee "one shot" to pass the Academy

Gallagher said “We are the only agency in the country right now that decided we are going to shorten the training, not give people more of what they need.”

Commissioner Basham said the training has not been shortened.  He explained how there are certain pieces of the program that have been revisited and none of them had to do with firearms or driving.  He spoke about how the Spanish section of the Academy is now separate.  He said, “Every single agent coming out of the Academy today is getting the same amount of training that I suspect anybody in this room got when you went to the Academy.”   He said that “the training that goes on in law enforcement does not happen at the Academy.” 

Commissioner Basham asked Gallagher if he has been to the Artesia, and Gallagher said no.  Commissioner Basham asked “how do you know what is going on”.  Gallagher said because I hear from the agents who instruct there and I talk to them all the time. 

Commissioner asked, well why do you have to talk to them?

Gallagher said because a lot of them are dissatisfied, don’t want to be there, and don’t want to be sent there for ten months at a time.

Commissioner said those agents are actually saying that they are not training properly.  Then he said, “I disagree with those agents.”

A MUR BPS agent who just returned from instructing at the Academy was present, and the Commissioner asked him if he agreed with what was said about the Academy.

The agent said yes and explained what he observed as a driving instructor at the Academy.  He said that there were agents at the Academy who have no business driving a car let alone being a Border Patrol Agent.  He also said, “I wouldn’t even trust them with a pair of scissors let alone a job in law enforcement.”  The agent continued describing what he witnessed while he was at the Academy and everything he said essentially reiterated what was said by Gallagher and Moran.

Commissioner said “I can’t argue because you just got back.”  “You’re the expert saying to me why are these people coming out of these classes, thirty percent, are not qualified to be Border Patrol Agents.  Quite frankly I can tell you I missed something.” Then he said “We talked to Charlie Whitmire and talked to his staff out there” and “Maybe they’re not willing to tell me.” He said he thought maybe they were not willing to denigrate the training.

[NOTE: What you just read is what the Union encounters all the time since Chief Aguilar took over.  The Commissioner disregarded the complaints raised by the Union, but then recognized that he cannot argue with the instructor who said the same exact thing as the Union said.  This is typical of how management/LER responds to our grievances.  There is a concerted effort in this organization to circumvent the Union and deal directly with the employee.  In dealing with individual employees, it is much easier for management to identify those employees who will agree with their positions and ignore the position of the majority.  Unfortunately for the Commissioner, this agent was not afraid to speak the truth and Local 1613 commends him for his courage.]

Richard Salinetti, Patrol Agent In Charge for MUR BPS, and Gallagher had a dialogue about the ability for an FTO at the station to document trainees in the FTU.  PAIC Salinetti said if there is a problem with a trainee and it is documented by the FTO, then he will deal with it accordingly.

[NOTE: In regards to PAIC Salinetti’s discussion with Gallagher, the Union does not deny that there are methods in place for the FTU to address trainees who are unsatisfactorily performing.  However, the Union does question how pushing trainees through the Academy is the best use of resources in the field.  The training environment at the Academy is the best place to address the trainees who are not fit to be in law enforcement.  Sending unsuitable trainees to the stations actually wastes vital resources at the station and/or sector level.  Furthermore, since these trainees typically require more attention, the trainees who are most likely to continue with a career with the Border Patrol suffer while the FTO’s attempt to deal with the unsatisfactory trainees.]

Moran said we are going off in a different direction from the question I asked.  He asked why we are recruiting at swap meets and at places no other agency or business would go to recruit someone for law enforcement.  Moran asked why we are allowing classes to cheat in mass at the Academy and then allowing them to graduate from the Academy.

Commissioner Basham asked: if you have information about cheating then why haven’t you brought this to the attention of the chain of command?

Moran said we tried to bring these concerns up, but your office and the Chief’s office will not meet with the employee’s representative.

Commissioner Basham said “I have made so many offers to sit down with the Union, talk about the issues, and basically I was told, your nothing but a ‘political puke’, all you are is a ‘bobbing head’, and we don’t have time to meet with you.  What am I supposed to do?”

[NOTE: The NBPC has met with Chief Aguilar since Local 1613 met with Chief Aguilar after the muster at the CHU BPS.  The NBPC only received one request from Commissioner Basham to meet with the NBPC and this request was sent in a letter.  At the same time, the NBPC received an invitation from Chief Aguilar to meet.  Since the NPBC had already received the invitation from Chief Aguilar, the NBPC chose to meet with Aguilar first before meeting with the Commissioner.  The NBPC has met with Chief Aguilar and has a meeting scheduled with him next week.  Therefore, the Commissioner misrepresented the number of times he supposedly extended an invitation to the NBPC to meet and he incorrectly stated that the NBPC refused to meet with Chief Aguilar.]

Chief Fisher interrupted and asked if anyone had any other questions.  The Commissioner said he wanted to reply to Moran.  The Commissioner said the Chief asked the Union to go out to the Academy and talk to the people there, but the Union refused.

Moran explained that the Union does talk to the instructors when we receive phone calls and emails from the instructors that describe what is happening at the Academy.

The Commissioner invited Moran, Gallagher, and anyone else from the local Union to visit the Academy, speak with the instructors, and review the Academy and the curriculum.

[NOTE: Does anyone see the contradiction in this dialogue.  The Union officers already specified several times that the information they were reporting was provided to them by the instructors who attended the Academy.  Commissioner Basham said he disagreed with those instructors, at least until he was confronted face to face with an instructor who said the same exact thing.  Then, Commissioner Basham questions how the Union could be aware of the problems at the Academy if the Union never went to the Academy.  I am thinking, even if the Union does go to the Academy, the response is going to be the same as it was on this date, “I disagree with those instructors.”  Furthermore, Local 1613 has since learned that approximately three weeks ago the NBPC received their first and only invitation to visit the Academy, not numerous invitations as the Commissioner claimed.  The NBPC is in the process of determining how best to go about a visit.  Local 1613 representatives may attend the Academy with or in addition to NBPC officers in the near future.]

Question 4 (Ron Zermeno, Local 1613 VP): Asked if the Agency could look into improving our communications system since we were unable to communicate with the other local law enforcement agencies who we were working with during the fires.

Commissioner spoke about SBI and how the funding is there. He said they would look into this and see what, if anything could be done.

Question 5: (Reid Zachary, 1613 Rep assigned to MUR): Discussed the old radios and compared the difference in quality and operability to the new radios that the trainees are receiving.  He asked when our old radios were going to be replaced with the new radios.

In response to the Commissioner’s question if it was just a problem with his radio or all of the radios, other agents spoke about the problems they have experienced with their old radios.

Commissioner turned to Chief Fisher and the Chief said there is a plan to replace the old radios with the new radios, but he did not know the timeline for replacement.

Question 6: (MUR BPS SBPA): Asked if there were any plans to obtain technology to help us deal with people who fail to yield. 

Commissioner asked him if he knew of anything that was currently available.

The SBPA spoke about a couple of different devices that have been mentioned in the past, but explained that he was primarily asking to see if the Agency was currently considering anything.

Commissioner said he would speak with the Chief about it.

Question 7: (MUR BPS Agent): Are there any plans to revise the pursuit policy?

Commissioner turned to one of the Asst. Commissioners, probably the Asst. Commissioner for Field Operations, who said they are currently finalizing a new policy.

Brief Discussion with Commissioner Basham after muster:

After the meeting, Chris Bauder, President of Local 1613, Moran, Gallagher, and Zermeno spoke with the Commissioner to clarify some issues that were raised during the discussion.  Bauder told the Commissioner that he was right when he said it was “a fight” regarding the current labor-management relations in the Border Patrol.  However, Bauder explained that this fight was not due to the actions by the Union, as he attempted to present, but was instead due to the actions of Chief Aguilar.

Commissioner Basham then spoke again about T.J. Bonner calling him a “political hack”. 

Bauder said he believed that comment appeared in an article where the Commissioner defended Chief Aguilar on the “vote of no confidence” and where he [the Commissioner] claimed that the rank and file did not support the vote. 

Commissioner Basham said no, that’s not correct.  He insisted that T.J. Bonner called him a “bobble-head” and a “political hack” before he took office. As the Commissioner spoke, SBPA Diana Hill, who was standing next to the Commissioner, continually shook her head to motion in agreement with the Commissioner.

Bauder said he would have to research it, but that it was not essential to his comment as to this relationship being “a fight”.  Bauder explained that “the fight” began long before he arrived as the Commissioner, but soon after Chief Aguilar took over.  Bauder said “the pot was boiling over long before you arrived” and what happened in the news between T.J. Bonner and you was most likely due to the already severely strained labor-management relations between the NBPC and Chief Aguilar.

[NOTE: The article that Bauder cited when Commissioner Basham claimed that T.J. Bonner had called him a “political hack” was just as the Union presented.  In fact, a review of the articles that were published prior to the Commissioner being appointed revealed none of the terms that the Commissioner referenced during or after the muster.  With regards to the articles published before Basham was appointed as the Commissioner, T.J. Bonner was well-aware of the Commissioner’s prior position in the Transportation Security Administration.  Specifically, Bonner referred to the treatment of the Air Marshals and other employees in the TSA who suffered under the direction of Basham and other former Secret Service agents.]

Bauder explained how Local 1613 probably witnessed the most negative impact from Chief Aguilar's actions.  He explained how Local 1613 had a very good relationship with sector management officials for the past eight years under Chief Veal, DCPA Beasley, DCPA Blocker, and Chief Griffen.  He explained the problems with having a Labor Employee Specialist (LER) responding to grievances that affect the working conditions of Border Patrol Agents when the LER specialists have never worked in the field as agents.

Commissioner Basham disagreed with everything that Bauder said.  He said that the management officials should be telling them [LER specialists] how to respond.  Bauder said that might be true, but before there was oversight by a Border Patrol management official who understood how an issue may impact the agents in the field and instead, now an LER specialist is telling managers how to avoid dealing with the issues. 

Again, Basham disagreed with Bauder’s statements.

Bauder spoke about how management officials within SDC have been forbidden from negotiating with the Union and creating revisions to policies that are broken.

Commissioner Basham disagreed again.

Bauder said there is enough proof to support everything the Union is saying and we can bring back management officials from the past who will tell you that the problems today are not the result of the Union.  Bauder provided an example of how management and the Union worked for seven years to settle any pending arbitrations in the San Diego Sector.  However, under Chief Aguilar and/or at the direction of LER, there no longer are settlement discussions because LER has said they have enough money to fight the Union in arbitration.  Consequently, instead of resolving simple issues and taking care of the rank and file, LER has decided the best course of action is to push every issue into arbitration.

Bauder illustrated how management and the Union worked for nearly two years revising the Detail Management Policy for SDC in an attempt to consolidate it into one policy and to correct the problems that exist with these outdated policies. However, once the policy was sent to LER, we were informed, not officially, that LER said details were a national issue that needed to be addressed nationally and that SDC would have to continue working with the existing policies, regardless of the fact that even management wanted them revised.

Bauder spoke about how Local 1613 proposed an in-sector transfer program that would have allowed agents to move to a different station in SDC at no cost to the government.  He explained that this program was intended to help agents who live in an area like San Diego where the cost of living is so high and who ended up buying homes far from their duty stations.  Bauder informed the Commissioner that nobody had the courtesy to tell us the status of the program, but that we also heard that LER said no to this program also.

The Union described how we used to meet with management at the local level on a regular basis, but that local management no longer has any desire to meet with the Union.  Bauder said, these are just a few examples of what led up to the vote of no confidence and these are why we can honestly say that the current “fight” is not due to the actions of T.J. Bonner, but is instead directly related to the actions of Chief Aguilar.

As expected, Commissioner Basham disagreed and the discussion ended.

Additional Background leading up to this meeting:

Now, for those who were in attendance and who were provided an advance explanation for the visit, Local 1613 would like to clarify a few items of interest.  Local 1613 has since learned that the alleged purpose of the Commissioner’s visit to the San Diego Sector was to thank the agents for their performance during the recent wildfires.  Although required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, the Union did not receive advance notice of this formal discussion nor was the Union invited to attend, and consequently, the Union was not made aware of the purpose for this visit.  In fact, the Union learned after the fact that Commissioner Basham also attended a muster at the Brown Field BPS.

In addition, it is important to point out that under the direction of Chief Aguilar and Chief Fisher, all effective and successful means of communication between Local 1613 representatives and SDC management have been terminated.  As soon as Chief Fisher assumed the position, his first course of action was to eliminate a work group that consisted of Local 1613 representatives and various management officials throughout SDC.  The future of this workgroup was discussed approximately four months ago during a meeting with (Acting) DCPA Richard Barlow and Labor Employee Relations (LER) specialist John McCabe. 

During the meeting, the Union provided an extensive background for McCabe to understand how the relationship between Local 1613 and SDC management developed over a nine year period.  As explained, eight out of the nine years resulted in numerous success stories, including the fact that Local 1613 has not gone to arbitration in over seven years prior to Chief Aguilar’s administration.  However, the Union described how the relationship quickly deteriorated soon after Chief Aguilar took over, and for the year leading up to this meeting, there was very little progress being made by the workgroup because management officials were consistently failing to respond to the issues being raised in the workgroup. 

After presenting this information, McCabe concluded that the workgroup was not successful.  The Union asked McCabe how he could ignore eight years of progress and instead focused on one year of failures.  McCabe became defensive and at the end of the meeting, McCabe refused to shake the hands of the Union officials who attended the meeting.  In the ten years I have been meeting with officials throughout SDC, I have never experienced a Border Patrol management official behave the way McCabe behaved that day.  Then again, I guess it is important to note that McCabe is not a Border Patrol official, has never worn the uniform, and has never worked in the field.  However, this is the type of person who Chief Aguilar and Chief Fisher is trusting to make decisions that affect you, your family, and your working conditions. 

Nevertheless, in keeping with their unprofessional behavior, SDC never even had the courtesy to formally notify Local 1613 of their decision.  Instead, Local 1613 heard a rumor that Chief Fisher discontinued the workgroup at the advice of LER McCabe. Furthermore, Local 1613 witnessed as Chief Fisher began dismantling an effective labor-management relationship that built up since 1998 under the leadership of Chief Veal, DCPA Beasley, Chief Griffen, and DCPA Blocker.  Since that meeting, SDC management officials have not had a meeting with Local 1613 officials. 

If you have anything to add to what is written here or if you have any questions, please contact me by email.
 

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