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Attendees

Virginia Brown-Health Department, Local 2187; Sondra Corry-Library, Local 2187; Dan Rofrano-Treasurer, District Council 47; Bob Zimmerman-President, Local 810; Vanessa Fields-DHS, Executive Board of Local 2187; Saul Ravitch-Airport, Executive Board of Local 2187; John Vago-Water Department, Local 2187; Kathy Black-Health & Safety Coordinator, District Council 47; Dave Mora-Water Department, Vice President of Local 2187; Mark Whitlock-Board of Revision of Taxes, Local 2187; Lori Stabinski-Health Department, Local 2187; John Bromley-Recreation Department, Local 2187, and Rita Urwitz-Vice President of Local 2186.

Kathy Black introduced Lois Miller who will sit in and take notes. We will send minutes after the meeting to keep everyone informed who doesn’t make it and also give us something to follow up on our issues.

Booklet - Employee Rights Under the Workers’ Compensation and Injured on Duty Programs

This booklet has been in development for a year and a half. It is a member friendly document, designed to respond to the most frequent issues that come up in injured workers cases. We will revise this booklet periodically, if there are any changes to the law or changes to the City’s IOD Program. The printer is running off 3,000 copies which is what the Health and Welfare Trustees authorized. We hope to have them in the next couple of weeks. They will be distributed to all officers and stewards, Health and Welfare Trustees, Executive Board Members, etc., and each employee who has been injured. We want to hand them out during new employee orientation. As we need more, we will order them. They will have green covers and a spiral wire binding.

McWane Corporation Campaign

Kathy provided background on this campaign. McWane is an iron foundry company that makes pipe and other kinds of large industrial products. Around the country that have ten plants. They were the subject of a massive OSHA investigation and a expose by the New York Times almost a year ago that uncovered a horrendous health and safety record, very high levels of fatalities and massive injuries among the employees. Many accidents happened because of faulty machinery, guards removed from the machines, poor work practices, etc. John Vago made us aware of the fact that the Water Department orders materials from this company and uses them in their work, so we started discussions about how we might be able to get the City to agree to not purchase from them anymore until their health and safety record is determined to have been dramatically improved.

John Vago reported that in May of this year, Tom Cronin wrote a letter to the Water Commissioner, Kumar Kishinchand, requesting that the Water Department initiate a boycott against McWane products. They make iron pipe valves and fittings that are used in water mains and water distribution systems, and as an engineer in the Water Department who often specifies that kind of material, it occurred to him that our Water Department is probably one of the biggest users of that kind of product in this part of the country. That initial letter led to a meeting with the Water Commissioner and Tom Cronin, Dave Mora, Kathy Black and John Vago. The Commissioner took the position that he agrees there is a problem, but his hands are tied, there’s nothing he can do about it. The group subsequently met with the City Solicitor, Nelson Diaz, who also expressed sympathy and some support for our effort and was not at that time ready to make any kind of commitment regarding the legality of that kind of an exclusion. We pointed out that there are a variety of ways that products of particular manufacturers are presently excluded from construction contracts, mainly if the contractor is forbidden to purchase them, for a variety of valid reasons, there are precedents for this kind of thing. We also met subsequently with William Gamble, the Procurement Commissioner, and what we heard from him was very similar to what we heard from Nelson Diaz, that there was some legal complications that have to be ironed out before action could be taken. We just learned a few days ago that a follow-up meeting with the Solicitor, Diaz, is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon which Kathy, Dave, Tom and John will be participating in.

Kathy Black laid out a number of concerns. How do we single out a company without putting the City at risk of a lawsuit for slandering the company’s name? She reported McWane invested approximately $10,000,000 into a new safety program. Whether or not they are really off the hook remains to be seen. We may need to take something to City Council and get them to pass an ordinance similar to when they supported divestment from companies that did business in South Africa. It might have to be written more broadly than just one company and be a catch-all for those that meet a certain threshold of OSHA violations. Kathy will check with Jordan Barab, former Health and Safety Director of AFSCME, for an update on McWane’s current status with OHSA.

Ward North America and Risk Management

Kathy distributed a report from the meeting with Risk Management and reviewed a few items.

Bomb Threats

There has been a lot of discussion about new security procedures, new evacuation procedures, etc., ever since 9/11 in just about every department of the City. There have been a couple of bomb threats within the last six months in some of the bigger buildings. There were a couple of meetings that Mike Walsh organized with Risk Management and now a policy is being drafted by Barry Scott’s office. (Barry is head of the Health and Safety Arm of Risk Management, and at the moment, he’s the acting Risk Manager).

According to Barry, there are routine bomb threats—sometimes many every year—but there’s never been a real bomb found ever in the history of the City. In the nation in the last 100 years, there have been one or two bomb threats that have actually been followed through on. Unfortunately, people who want to do damage don’t warn you. They drive a vehicle into the side of the building and do the greatest amount of damage that they can and the surprise element is one of their greatest weapons. The City investigates every threat and the police are called in every case, and they are the ones who make the call about whether there will be an evacuation, and if so, how much of an evacuation. Anything that is small enough to be smuggled into a building without attracting notice is not going to do a massive amount of damage. Anything that’s going to be a real threat is going to be noticeable and it is going to be found. There is a policy that’s supposed to be coming out. The framework will be developed by Risk Management. The Managing Director’s Office will be the one that will finalize it and approve it and Public Property, Safety Officer Terence Sweeney is also providing input into this policy framework.

Recently also, at 1515 Arch Street, there was a chemical incident. The people who had the contract for the ventilation system for the workers there, put the wrong chemical in the wrong cooling tower and caused fumes to spread through the building. No one was seriously injured, but it did cause irritating eyes and membranes. Because that happened, that kind of incident is going to be rolled into the same policy, so it won’t be just for bombs, it will be broader for other kinds of emergencies as well.

Smallpox and West Nile Virus

There is a lot of information on the Web Site and in the Newsletters about the Smallpox Program which Bush called for. It was criticized by health professionals across the country as unnecessary, unworkable, way too expensive and poorly targeted. So, as a consequence, it pretty much died out. The people in the Health Department here in Philadelphia who were responsible for the program have retired. A handful of City Management did get the inoculation, so there would be a skeleton crew of people, if there were an outbreak here, who would be prepared to administer the inoculation to other people.

There was some concern about the West Nile Virus as a possible worker risk especially for those that work at the Airport and in the Water Department. At the Airport, Jack McCourt, the Safety Officer, has run a pretty good Anti-Mosquito Program down there for the last couple of years. It’s impossible to do this same kind of remediation for the Water Department, because they are working all over the City. No City employees have been infected with West Nile Virus.

Injury Report Form – Ramifications Review

The Injury Report is sort of becoming a joke, it’s had so many revisions. Now Barry Scott is revising this yet again and some of the pieces that he had edited out are going to be brought back in and a lot of it has to do with the way the data fields match up with Ward North America, the City’s insurance company for Workers’ Comp and IOD.

Everybody should fill out the form anytime there is any kind of incident, whether you actually wind up going to the Comp Clinic or not. The report form is a report of the incident as well as the first step in getting treatment and benefits if you need them. The important part for us was that the new revised form is going to have a place for our members to sign off on the back of it saying that a copy of the form can be sent to the Health and Welfare Fund so that Kathy has an immediate way of tracking our members who are injured and following up with them to make sure they get the treatment and services that they need and deserve. The other pieces of the revision are to help Risk Management track where injuries are and try to implement fixes for places where there are hazards.

For a couple of years, we had Comp Services providing us with a monthly report of our members who were injured via computer. Usually 8 to 12 of our member file an Injury Report every month and sometimes as many as 25. Kathy hasn’t had any reports since April 1st when Ward took over. They promised us the six largest departments were going to have access to the Ward computer system and the files of their employees who are injured. None of that has happened. So, this means that Kathy only hears about injured members when things are really at some critical point or not at all. Mike Walsh, President of Local 2186, suggested that we assign a person in every department to get names of injured workers from Safety Officers, especially in the major departments where we experience the most frequent injuries, which are: DHS, Health, Recreation and Water. Kathy asked for feedback on this idea.

Kathy stressed that all stewards should be eyes and ears in the workplace for anybody who gets hurt. When they are injured, the members don’t think about it as a union issue. They think about it as something they take to management. It doesn’t come under the contract so they don’t necessarily go to stewards and get them to report injuries to the Union. Despite many newsletters and web site articles and steward training, it still isn’t happening.

Kathy Black led a discussion of how we can best get the names of injured members from Department personnel offices. The group agreed to have a designee go to each Department Safety Officer each month for D.C. 47 names. The following members volunteered to work with their Departments to set up a procedure for obtaining the injured worker’s name, the date of injury and contact information:

1. Virginia Brown, Department of Public Health.
2. Vanessa Fields-Boseman, Department of Human Services.
3. John Vago, Water Department.
4. Saul Ravitch, Airport.
5. Mark Whitlock, Board of Revision of Taxes and Commission on Human Rights.
6. Kathy will speak to Joe Perry about being the liaison at the Library.
7. Bob Zimmerman will appoint someone from the Courts.
8. Steward elections for Local 2187 will be held in the Recreation Department soon. Kathy will check with the Local leadership from 2186 and 2187 about appointing representatives from Recreation and other departments. John Bromley will continue to serve on our Committee as both an injured worker experienced with the IOD System and as a Recreation employee.
9. Rita suggested Nelson Walker represent District Council on the Committee from the Youth Study Center. Rita also suggested that each appointee represent all of D.C. 47 and not just their Local. The letters that Kathy sends will indicate this.

Kathy encouraged these appointees to introduce themselves to their Department Safety Officers and explain the role they play on this Health and Safety Advisory Committee and in working with injured members. When all major departments have representatives appointed, Kathy will send a formal letter to the departments.

Kathy Black encouraged stewards to send e-mails or some other communication to their members periodically to remind them to notify their steward and Kathy Black if they are injured at work. John Vago does this frequently in the Water Department.

Packard Building

Kathy reported that the offices of Mental Health Services Workers moved into the Packard Building at 15th and Samson earlier this year and have been experiencing leaks, temperature extremes and other problems ever since. Luxury housing is being developed on the upper floors. Though building management and Risk Management have been very responsive, the volume of problems is too high and we expect them to move again.

Green Cleaning Products

About three weeks ago before the meeting, Kathy went to a lunchtime workshop on Green Cleaning Products for commercial use, given by a company at the American Architect Association. Its presentation was about the environmental hazards of commercial cleaners. The most frequent issue that’s been brought to Kathy’s attention through these kinds of health and safety projects that we work on with Risk Management is air quality issues. The cleaning products could be a major contributing factor to the problems that we have. There are very toxic elements in a lot of these commercial cleaning products and the ones that we use at home as well. There’s also very poor training of people who do cleaning and so lots of times there’s misuse of the products and heavier concentrations used of the toxic substances than needed. It’s also financially advantageous to use Green Cleaning Products and environmentally, besides the immediate work environment, there is the issue of wastewater and the toxins that are getting into the general water system. If we could get some movement on this, it could contribute to improving the air quality in the spaces where our members work. This would be a very complicated project and Kathy asked for feedback from Committee

Members indicated that DC 33 members do the cleaning in most City owned facilities, including Recreation Centers, Health Centers, Libraries, and the Airport. Products are purchased centrally by the Procurement Department. John Vago said that a related issue would be instruction on how to use the materials and chemicals correctly.

It was decided to work with the Procurement Department first, to see if we can get them to use a different set of criteria for products and instructions to the City workforce who are doing the cleaning. Then maybe we would have more traction afterwards going to building managers and their contractors. Possibly we will need to go to City Council for them to pass an ordinance requiring the change.

It was agreed that the first step would be to raise this issue with leaders in the DC 33 Locals. Jerry Roseman, our Industrial Hygienist Consultant, will be asked to assist us in this project, and in the future he will come to our Advisory Committee Meetings. We will also bring this request to Risk Management at our next meeting. Those who sit on Department Health and Safety Committees should raise this at their meetings as well.

Kathy reported on the new Forensic Laboratory that the Police Department has. Cathy Scott and Kathy Black went on a tour of it. They moved from a small, old facility to an old school at 8th and Poplar that they completely renovated. It’s a spectacular state of the art Forensic Lab, really wonderful. That’s a City owned building, so probably DC 33 people clean it. It seems like an important place to use non-toxic products.

Clean Air Council Project

Joe Minott, whose been the Director of the Clean Air Council for many years, met with Kathy regarding Bill # 314, sponsored by Councilman Nutter, regarding tobacco smoke in workplaces. It is an ordinance that would be similar to the ones that they have in New York City and San Francisco and a number of other cities throughout the country that bar smoking in all workplaces, especially bars and restaurants. Secondary tobacco smoke is a health problem for anybody that comes into contact with it. It was the flight attendants and pilots who demanded that airplanes become smoke free environments for their protection. The Clean Air Council is seeking Union support for this ordinance. Kathy announced that DC 47 recently became a smoke-free building and that most workplaces do ban smoking. Kathy Black provided talking points, fact sheets on the Bill’s provisions, clippings regarding the experiences in other cities and statements from other unions.

John Vago made a motion, which was seconded, to recommend to the DC 47 Executive Board that they support Bill 314.

We discussed the evolution of smokers’ behavior and rights over the years; the concern for seriously addicted people and their ability to quit; smoking as a fire hazard; the scientific evidence showing second-hand smoke is carcinogenic; the exceptions the ordinance would allow; and the focus of the Bill as protection for the health of workers who don’t have a choice about exposure. One Committee member argued for the right of smokers to have public places where they can smoke and socialize, besides bars. Another felt that failing to support this change would be encouraging addiction and believed the new law could provide an incentive for people to quit.

The motion was for this Committee to recommend to the DC47 Executive Board that they support Michael Nutter’s Bill No. 314. The motion carried with one nay vote. Dan Rofrano asked for copies of the materials for the DC 47 Executive Board and he will bring our recommendation to their next meeting.

Self-Defense Training for Members with Reference to Workplace Violence

Kathy led a discussion about the need for training for our members who are at risk of assault or other workplace violence. One of our Social Workers at DHS who was assaulted more than a year ago and she raised the idea of negotiating self-defense training and conflict resolution for members as a way of decreasing injuries among employees.

We discussed training and systems development that was provided for Recreation Department employees, the Workplace Violence Policy and engineering controls set up at Maternal and Child Health, led by Virginia Brown, and some other incidental changes in Library branches and other workplaces.

Kathy said it is a myth that most workplace violence is among coworkers. Most comes from strangers’ intent on robbery, or for our members, from agitated clients or members of the public. As many of these incidents occur outside the workplace, improving security at buildings is not enough.

We discussed ways we can develop a broad solution that will apply to different situations and departments, and what kinds of training and trainers are available. Virginia discussed how her Workplace Violence Policy had been effective and John Bromley described the disarming techniques and Rapid Response Network that were provided for the Recreation Department employees. Virginia also explained how her Committee negotiated issuance of cab vouchers for employees working at night, alone, and/or in dangerous areas.

We may need to compile data regarding medical costs and lost time from IOD cases to convince City Management to take this seriously. This would be a big undertaking, but Kathy could put together some information from IOD case records. The City’s vulnerability to lawsuits could also be used as an argument for prevention work.

Vanessa Fields, Rita Urwitz and Kathy Black will approach Doua Xiong, the DHS Safety Officer, to see if he is receptive to exploring these ideas. As most assaults happen to Social Workers, we will contact DHS first. This could also be topic for negotiations.

Health and Safety Contract Proposals

Kathy gave a brief history of the fate of health and safety issues in negotiations. Although none of our carefully developed proposals were adopted, we did agree to hold quarterly meetings with Risk Management to resolve IOD systems problems. Those meetings have been useful and have established a productive and cordial relationship between Risk Management and the Union.

Kathy has been compiling ideas for contract proposals and she asked that Committee members think about proposal ideas and bring them to our next meeting in March. (See attached list of current list of proposal ideas.)

Final Thoughts

There was some follow-up discussion regarding how Committee members will obtain IOD information from Safety Officers. It was agreed that members would contact Safety Officers immediately before letters are issued from the Health and Welfare Fund. There should be no problem with confidentiality laws, as we are not asking for any medical information, and we only want the names of our own members.

The Committee will meet three or four times each year. The next meeting will be sometime in March so we can compile timely contract proposals. Kathy reminded members about the Workers’ Rights Board Hearing to be held that evening and then the meeting was adjourned.