New government security checks for port workers announced recently are welcome but hardly the last word in making the nation's ports more secure and safe. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged as much in announcing that they will be followed by year's end with more comprehensive background checks for a larger number of persons with access to ports and the issuance of special federal credentials.

The new measures now being implemented by the Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration will collect names and identification from some 400,000 port workers nationwide and check them against terrorist watch lists and immigration records. About 9,000 workers with access to the Port of Charleston will be covered, according to a report in this newspaper.

State Ports Authority spokesman Byron Miller called this phase of the government port security plan "a good first step."

A more important step, Mr. Miller said in an interview, would come when the government includes criminal record background checks in its credential program. SPA is not allowed to do background checks on people who work in the ports, such as truck drivers and stevedores, who are not SPA employees.

Secretary Chertoff said the issue of criminal records "will be something we're going to address" in preparing for phase two, in which federal authorities plan to expand the number required to have background checks for access to ports to about 750,000, and issue those who qualify a new federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Under the law, illegal immigrants and persons convicted of certain crimes, as well as persons on terrorist watch lists, would be barred from sensitive transportation jobs. The plan has drawn criticism from unions concerned that workers might be unfairly dismissed. Federal regulations are being drafted to specify disqualifying crimes, protect the privacy of records and guarantee appeals. Reportedly the disqualifying crimes would include espionage, terrorism, illegal use of explosives, extortion, a range of violent and narcotics offenses and incidents affecting transportation security.

"It is fundamental that individuals who pose a security threat do not gain access to our nation's ports," Secretary Chertoff said recently. Background checks will weed out not only those bent on terrorism but also those who are a threat to their fellow workers. They should be a central part of the new port security system.