Union Protests Disparity: Rail Yard: A Tale Of 2 Locker Areas

Union Protests Disparity
Rail Yard: A Tale Of 2 Locker Areas

Several New York City Transit supervisors have violated city construction codes and ignored fair labor practices by having two Car Inspectors add showers and lavatories to their office at the 240th St. rail yard while transit workers stew in a broken-down locker room, union critics charged last week.

The Chief-Leader/Ginger Adams Otis GAPS IN SERVICE: Transit workers at the 240th St. rail yard question why an office for supervisors that was refurbished a few months ago is being upgraded again with new lockers, showers and toilets while their locker room (shown here), which NYC Transit acknowledges is in dire need of repair, is still missing chunks of ceiling and floor. The room daily gets littered with paint chips believed to be tainted with lead. They also claimed that when union officials showed up for impromptu inspections of the new installations, they were ordered off the property. When they refused to leave, NYC Transit supervisors called police to have them ejected.

Holes in Ceiling, Floor

Gregory McDonald, a member of Transport Workers' Union Local 100 and vice-chair of its Infrastructure Division, was one of several union representatives, along with Local 100's Safety Director, who complained to NYC Transit that two supervisors at 240th St. in The Bronx were surreptitiously upgrading their locker room with out-of-title labor to service the roughly 15 managers at the site, while 120 transit workers must share a decrepit locker room filled with flaking lead paint and holes in the ceiling and floor.

Adding to the union's ire is the fact that last fall NYC Transit transferred 170 Structure Maintainers - skilled masons, carpenters, iron workers and tinsmiths - into cleaning positions, claiming it had no repair work to assign to them.

At the time NYC Transit said if it didn't "excess" the workers into the cleaning positions, they would have to be laid off. Since then, approximately 70 have returned to Structure Maintainer jobs.

'They Could Do Repairs'

"There are about 100 skilled trades workers who could be doing this construction work if these supervisors have to have a refitted locker room and office," said Robert Davenport, acting chairman of the 240th St. shop. "Better yet, they could be upgrading the employees' locker rooms, which are falling apart."

Mr. Davenport, a Car Inspector at the shop, filed a grievance in early April, complaining that Supervisor John Davitt was using another Car Inspector and an Apprentice Car Inspector in overtime to do out-of-title work.

The mechanics, he noted, were not licensed to do plumbing, electrical wiring, and other construction jobs. The union expressed concerns that the supervisor was trying to install shower and toilet facilities in an area that was zoned only for drainage pipes, not sewage pipes.

Charles Seaton, an NYC Transit spokesman, said a pattern had been established more than 45 years ago that allowed Car Maintainers and Inspectors to work out of title as assigned by managers.

Cites Precedents

He said he believed they had the skills for plumbing and wiring installations, stating, "They always have in the past."

Union representatives said even if that were true, the agency still had to follow a seniority list for assigning overtime work.

The union has been unsuccessful in getting NYC Transit to halt the locker room upgrades. During a May safety meeting, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Davenport both reported that Office of Systems Safety Specialist Bruce Brandsema said that "trade personnel do trade work to ensure that the work is done safely and correctly." They recorded it in the meeting minutes.

When copies of the minutes went to NYC Transit officials, however, Mr. Brandsema denied making the statement.

"I stated that the issue of out-of-title work is to be handled between management and the union. I also stated that employees performing such tasks such as trade work, must have the proper certifications to work with certain equipment," he wrote in a June 2 memo. "I believe Mr. Davenport misinterpreted my statement."

Cops Came and Left

Mr. McDonald said he attempted to inspect the shower, toilet and electrical wire installations June 2 and June 12. Both times he was denied access by Superintendent Davitt. When he insisted, he said, Mr. Davitt called the police.

"Cops came both times, about 25 minutes after he called them up. But they got out of the car, walked over and inspected the sign-in book at the desk, talked to the supervisors, and then left," said Mr. McDonald. "They could see I was there with my badge on, following procedures, and I wasn't getting violent or yelling."

At the same time they're battling over out-of-title work, Local 100 officers are pushing for improvements to the workers' locker room, which NYC Transit's Office of Systems Safety has acknowledged as needing repairs.

Union stewards filed numerous complaints about paint chips falling from ceilings in the locker and lunch rooms; the padlocked emergency exit; and the lack emergency lights and exit signs.

Fix in the Works

John P. Soucheck, NYC Transit's OSS Director of Bus and Field Safety, in a May 5 memo to Kenneth Brown, NYC Transit's Director of Fire Safety, said steps were being taken to fix those problems.

He told Mr. Brown that after a May 3 meeting with Local 100's Director of Safety, Toney Earl, and other union and NYC Transit officials, the "the padlock on the emergency door was removed. A work order for a fire-rated emergency exit door with panic hardware has been generated. A work order for emergency exit signs with lights and battery back-up has been submitted." He added that falling paint chips has been an ongoing issue, with records "dating back as far as 1996" identifying the problem. He recommended proper housekeeping techniques and Lead Awareness training be given to transit employees.

'Roof Leaked for Years'

Mr. Soucheck further noted that the "roof above the lunch and locker rooms has been leaking for years ... the current condition of the roof only contributes to the peeling paint, mold, and damaged ceiling tiles."

General Superintendent Joseph Ragusa, who's in charge of the 240th St. yard, was also aware of the conditions. In an April 14 e-mail to Mr. Brown and other OSS managers, he pleaded for help, writing that "the employee locker room is a disaster" with probably "20 open work orders."

He also stated that "there is paint peeling from the ceiling which is probably lead-based, and dust particles all over the place. This is not a conducive environment to eat lunch. I have 60 employees who utilize this area daily."

Both Mr. Davenport and Mr. McDonald said that although NYC Transit began receiving grievances and safety dispute forms about the employees' locker room in early April, it's only recently begun to make some changes.