Attendees

Kathy Black, Health & Safety Director, District Council 47; John Bromley, Department of Recreation; Local 2187; Bob Zimmerman, Courts, Local 810; Louise Carpino, Probation, Local 810; Dan Rofrano, 2186; Terry Scott, Staff Development, Local 2187; Michele Belloumini, Library, Local 2187; Sondra Corry, Library, Local 2187; David Mora, Vice President, Local 2187; Jerry Roseman, Environmental Science Consultant and Industrial Hygienist, Health & Welfare Department, Local 2187; Mark Whitlock, Board of Revision Taxes, Local 2187; John Vago, Water Department, Local 2187; Rita Urwitz,Vice President, Local 2186; Judy Hoover, Union Steward, Local 2187.

Health & Safety Gains Won in the City Contract

The group reviewed changes negotiated into the contract, which are detailed in the attachment, “Progress on the Health and Safety Front in City Contract Negotiations.”

Health & Welfare Benefits Awarded to all who qualify for service connected disability pension, regardless of years of service.
In the past few years, two of our members were forced to retire with less than ten year’s service, due to service connected injuries, and they did not receive the five years’ health and welfare benefits that other retirees enjoy. The new language in the contract changes this so that all who receive a service connected disability pension will get the same extended health and welfare benefits as any other retiree, whether or not they have completed ten years’ service.

Baseline Medical Monitoring Program used in the Water Department If a medical condition is discovered during the course of this monitoring program which would make an employee a danger to his and/or herself or others at work, or if they are unable to perform their jobs, the City may not terminate them, but will now refer them to the Secondary Employment Program. This is a protection the Union has sought for many years.

Mark Whitlock is a Disaster Relief Volunteer, and he raised the issue of time off to volunteer at our meetings with Risk Management. With his help, we negotiated new language to cover these situations. (See Employee Leave for Disaster Relief Volunteers Program in the (Progress Report handout0
Having Mark volunteer for the Disaster Relief Volunteers Training made it possible for us to fight for this protection in the contract.

Kathy announced that the Red Cross is offering a one-day class this Saturday for VOAD Training - (Volunteers Organized Against Disaster) or (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster). Certification will be given once you have completed the training. The classes are being offered regularly and they are free.
Mark advised First Aid and CPR training is being offered and believes this will include training in automatic defibrillators. Janet Ryder of the AFL-CIO is directing this and there has been no charge so far. The VOAD training will take place at the AFL-CIO Building, 22 South 22nd Street. Certification will be given at the end of the day.

Mark also announced that a meeting was held with the Health Department, the Red Cross and VOAD on the issue of bio-terrorism. VOAD personnel could be sent to sites such as recreation centers, police stations or schools. Plans are not yet finalized as to which sites police personnel would be sent. From the Health Department’s point of view, this is a real risk, and the Police Department is working with the Health Department on this issue. This is strictly voluntary.

Mark said the Health Department is continuing to work on “what does it mean if Municipal employees are volunteering to work with the Red Cross/Health Department.” There have been all types of ramifications. It is unclear if a person becomes injured while working with the Red Cross or Health Department as a disaster volunteer, whether the injury would be considered IOD.

Mark continued that the Red Cross is very eager to have VOAD certified people. There has been talk about a pandemic of avian flu or influenza. It is believed this flu comes from fowl to humans and has now jumped from human-to-human. This is known as Type I. In 1918 the Spanish influenza killed several million. The Federal Government has been looking at this number and presently have a little over 2,000,000 doses, (feeder stock), to fight this disease. They are anticipating staggering numbers of deaths. The death rate is around 75% when you contract this form of influenza. The United States CDC has people stationed in Asia. They are monitoring the problems for which there seems to be little or no solution.

Our Union is renowned for participating in volunteer activities and charitable functions around the City and we encourage others from this Committee to get trained in this program. (A couple members took the leaflets).

The Health Department does integrate with other Departments under NOVA, (National Organization of Victims Assistance). If disaster falls within City limits, L&I is automatically activated. NOVA trains people for broader areas. There is no guarantee people would be sent to Indonesia or a tsunami disaster etc., but volunteers are accepted.

Other IOD Issues

Some of our injured members have problems getting to and from doctors appointments, therapy sessions, and to and from work once they have returned back to work. Sometimes the City does provide transportation, but it is inconsistent. We tried to get language in the contract regarding transportation for these workers, but the City would not agree. Barry Scott agreed to keep talking about this issue post-negotiations, but we are still waiting for resolution.

City Council just passed a Bill which says anyone who gets a Service Connected Disability Pension will now be able to work somewhere else and not lose any of their pension. The Mayor vetoed the Bill and they overrode his veto last week. That is a new benefit for our members.

Kathy and one of our attorneys discussed a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer which exposed a new financial scandal. There were a group of Street Department employees whose overtime work was not calculated into their Workers’ Compensation allotment. If you are injured while on duty and come back to work on light duty, your Worker’s Comp should reflect you received credit for that overtime, which is part of your regular salary. The City was short-changing people. At first, the Law Department agreed to our lawyer’s proposal to sit down and work these things out, but then they backed off, and decided to contest every case. The work was contracted to Sand & Saidel, a law firm that just coincidentally made tens of thousands of dollars worth of political contributions to the Street Campaign. Also coincidental isthat the Saidel is Jonathan Saidel’s brother, but he says in the article they haven’t spoken for 10 years. The City spent $1.16 million fighting these claims, which added up to $70,000. At the end of this article they tied it in with Michael Nutter’s Hearings on Budget Cuts at the Library. It is very good these issues about expenditures are tied into the cuts. The lawyers billed 11,000 hours for these cases, much of it spent doing “make work” to jack up the cost. Your tax dollars at work.

Secondary Employment Options

During negotiations, people were brought in from Central Personnel Department to talk about setting up Secondary Employment Options for members who become seriously ill or disabled and can no longer do their current jobs, not as a result of an injury on duty. A few of our members have had degenerative illnesses and became less and less mobile, especially in DHS. As a result, they were forced out of the City. We sought to develop a program whereby they could be moved to jobs in other departments, as now there is no mechanism to do that. Ideas were exchanged of what we would like to see for Non-Service Connected Disabilities Secondary Employment Program. It was never finished at negotiations as it was thought it would not be part of the contract. We have now taken this up in our meetings with Risk Management, but no resolution has come about so far.

Booklet – (What Employees Need to Know about the IOD System)

This booklet offers advice to employees about what they need to know about the IOD System. These booklets are available to members. Let Kathy know if you need additional copies.

Thermal Comfort Policy

Safety Directive, No. HS1, Revision No. 7. Significant time in negotiations was taken up with discussions on this new policy.

Jerry Roseman reviewed the major points of the policy. He explained that in his work for a lot of Locals here and other Unions, he has been in a lot of buildings, the Justice Department, several libraries, and several other buildings in response to complaints about indoor air quality and thermal comfort. For the most part, these complaints do not constitute a hazardous environmental issue, but is usually a comfort problem.

The new chart maps out acceptable temperature and humidity ranges, which are relatively conservative. If these limits are exceeded (or not reached, in the case of “too cold” temperatures), there are several administrative actions that are to be taken. Workers can be given extra breaks, put into cooler areas, and fans could be brought in. These things are hard to enforce, but the language in the policy makes clear that administrators do have authority to take these and other actions to insure the comfort of employees. The policy goes on to list other possible administrative actions that can be taken to alleviate thermal discomfort.

The policy may still need to be enforced by calling in Risk Management or by contacting Jerry Roseman through Kathy Black, at least until Administrators have been trained and are comfortable with their new authority and responsibilities.

The Heat Stress Program, (all of Section 4), pages 5-8, is for those people who do “hot” jobs. These include people who do outdoor work, especially in the summer, like the surveyors, and some people in the Water Department. So, where people are doing actual hot work, this section applies to them. Most people’s complaints will be dealt with under the Indoor Thermal Comfort part in Section 5.

Kathy stated one of the reasons a stronger policy was needed is that time after time, even in emergencies, supervisors did not know what to do or what steps to take as they feel they do not have the authority to deal with anything like this. There needs to be a massive amount of education for supervisors, administrators, etc. to go along with this policy when it becomes finalized, which is very close. The unions suggestions for strengthening the language and authority for local action were accepted and incorporated into the draft.

Many complaints come during a transition season, when we may experience unusually warm or cool temperatures, and the heating or cooling systems are not yet scheduled to be turned on. There’s nothing that will allow us to control Mother Nature. These situations will always exist, but at least there is an acknowledgement in this policy those times are going to happen, and things can and should be done, as outlined in the list of possible remedies.

Some problems occur when the system is actually broken, and there may be varying factors involved in correcting the problems, such as parts being ordered, which will slow down the process. When there is a broken system that needs repair, no policy is needed to demand it should be fixed. When problems have been of a larger nature, they were taken care of eventually. It takes time and money to fix things, but it has been agreed upon.

Jerry Roseman mentioned that we, the union reps, often will still be the ones who call for action. Use the policy to demand that something be done when people are uncomfortable. If the permanent fixes will take a while – like ordering window blinds – ask for a temporary fix in the meantime.

Also, we must be mindful that people have different tolerances for temperatures, and they may have health conditions which can be exacerbated by extreme temperatures. This will be based on one’s physical condition, heart problems, pre-existing conditions of all kinds. The first paragraph under Section 5 on page 9 says, “In addition, it should be recognized that some people with pre-existing medical conditions and so on.” If you have members with these conditions, the temperature problems should be taken more seriously and acted on quickly.

Kathy stated there will be training for Human Resource Managers when the policy is finalized. Union reps will also be at the training. The next thing we will stress is that they follow through on getting the policy adopted. They are aware this is a massive policy, perhaps one of the longest policies in the City. It certainly is the longest we have as a Health and Safety issue. This is the final draft, as we believe that we have accomplished most of what we wanted and all of what is possible.

Everyone will be notified when this has been finalized by the Managing Director’s Office.

Ward North America and Risk Management

The New Injury Report

The new Accident Report Form is now in effect. There was a tremendous amount of input and most of our ideas were accepted. The report was circulated in four departments for several months to see how it would work and now it has been adopted City-wide. Kathy and Mark went to a training session, and all the Union Reps were invited as well. Instructions outline how this form should be used. Most importantly, Part 5 on the back of the form is designed to find out why these injuries are happening. The cause is pinpointed so that there is some opportunity to follow up in addressing hazards and concerns to prevent people from getting hurt. These include car accidents, trips and falls, and assaults. This form can also be used to document if the assault rate is going up. It can be used for the purpose to show not enough training is done to protect people. Personnel Departments and supervisors should have this form for people to use now should someone get hurt.

Also, on the back of the form, there is a place for DC47 members to sign and agree that a copy of the form will be sent to the Union’s Health and Safety Officer. Please encourage our members to sign that spot and to then call Kathy Black at 215-893-3770, when the experience a workplace injury.

Bomb Scare Policy

Apparently bomb scares are run of the mill in City Government. Several buildings get bomb scares all the time. These threats are often from annoyed citizens, but there has never been a real bomb planted in a City building. All the Union leaders have been given a copy of this draft and asked for their input. At 34 S. 11th Street, where Mark Whitlock works, there was a bomb scare last November.

Unpaid IOD Bills

All members who are receiving bills from providers for IOD medical treatment should contact Kathy Black. The City’s insurance company changed in July of 2001. The old company did not pay numerous bills and the new insurance company does not want to pay them either. Many of these bills were for Emergency Room visits. People who have gone for the first time are forced to give their private insurance information even if they explain it is a Worker’s Comp case. The hospital still wants your insurance information or you will not be treated. Once they have that information and they are not paid by the insurance company, they start billing you.

This problem has really messed with the credit ratings of a number of members and this is a long-standing problem. The City says it’s taking this problem seriously, but it is taking a ridiculously long time to fix it. Please make sure anyone getting bills contacts Kathy or their union rep right away.

New IOD Medical Providers

There will be some new providers added to the roster at Hahnemann Hospital as an additional site for our injured members to go to for treatment. Dr. Foster is no longer there, and there is new management at Hahnemann’s Occupational Clinic. While people have been relatively happy with the clinic at Temple University, the volume is very high and the wait long. Some of the complaints we had at Hahnemann are now happening at Temple. We will let stewards know when the change takes place.

McWane Corporation

McWane is a giant foundry company that has 10 or 12 plants around the country. They were singled out for a huge New York Times series of articles and a Frontline Documentary on PBS. Their safety record was horrific, with the highest rate of death and dismemberment of any business of its kind in the country. We started a campaign with the City Water Department to try to get them removed from the contractor list. John Vago, an Engineer in the Water Department, determined that McWane was someone we purchased pipe(s), valve(s) and such from for major water projects. The Law Department was very interested in this campaign, and they took McWane off the acceptable supplier list at the Union’s request. McWane was quite upset by this, took it very seriously and sent a whole team of people up here from their Corporate Headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama, (lawyers, vice presidents, and safety personnel). We were not invited to this, which was unfair. They apparently made quite an effective presentation, and McWane has now been restored to the supplier list.

We were in regular contact with the Steelworkers Union, which represents the plan in Phillipsburg, NJ, where there were a couple of deaths and discharges of toxic materials into the Delaware River. At first, the Steelworkers were upset with our actions. They stated we were threatening their members’ jobs. We asked why they were not concerned with the lives of their members. However, we eventually developed a good relationship with the Steelworkers and they were thankful we raised this, as the company began spending millions and millions of dollars on safety improvements and training, puttting new guards on machinery and bringing things up to code. We did not get written letters of gratitude but we did receive verbal thanks, as there were real improvements made.

However, as soon as the City restored McWane to the supplier list, there was another death in Phillipsburg. This has been investigated and the Plant was shut down for a week. There is no OSHA report as yet. We do not know if this was a freak accident or the result of a violation. However, this Committee has been successful in getting the City to take action. It is fortunate that we were able to find someone in the City Law Department whom at one time worked for the EPA and had a concern.
This is a large success for our small Committee and hopefully McWane have cleaned up their act.

One minor detail on McWane, per John Vago. Support was received from the Law Department and the Procurement Department on getting McWane on the “Do Not Purchase List.” However, that was never fully implemented in the Water Department as a directive to forbid contractors to use McWane products. Since then, there have been these new developments, which have made that a moot question. We probably would have had to do something more to enforce it if the directive wasn’t overturned.

Smoke-Free Workplace Ordinance

Our Committee got involved with this initiative last year. Michael Nutter has introduced this legislation again. It did not go anywhere last year in City Council but it would make all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, in the City smoke-free. We have worked with the Clean Air Council as well. They have not been able to get many Unions interested in this. Dan Rofrano made a motion last year for the Executive Board to get Council on record to support the Bill and we are continuing to support it. Tom just wrote a letter to all the Council People supporting this Bill. Seven states, several countries and many U.S. cities have adopted similar ordinances without a loss, and in many cases with significant gains, in restaurant and bar business.

Service Connected Disability Pension Ordinance

There is another letter from Tom in the packets, asking Council People to override the Mayor’s Veto on the Service Connected Disability Pensions Bill, introduced by Jim Kenney, which allows workers disabled for purposes of their city jobs, to keep income from new employment without loss of pension benefits. (The Mayor’s veto was overridden, and this ordinance provides this new protection for our members who receive a Service Connected Disability Pension.)

Ergonomic Training

Massive ergonomic training for members in several departments, including DHS, has been provided by Kathy over the years. A lot of training and upgrading of workstations has also been done in the Libraries and the Water Department throughout the years. However, it is time to revive this Campaign, as many new employees have never been trained and others need refresher courses. A lot of individual assessments have been done for people who have back problems, repetitive motion injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, but no overall group training has been done in quite some time.

The City was very amenable to having someone come in free to train their employees in the past, and we hope to enlist their support again. The main emphasis of the training is to teach people how to be conscious of their own posture and what the principles of a good ergonomic workstation are so they can make the proper adjustments, and work more comfortably and more safely. It is a half-hour presentation, followed by individual work station assessments. Committee members are asked to work with Kathy to set up training sessions in their departments.

Other training is also available from AFSCME in D.C. Our International Union is one of the only unions that still has an effective, large Health and Safety Department. There is a tremendous amount of information on the AFSCME web site as well as publications that stewards and members should take advantage of.

Ongoing Health & Safety Projects

We have been trying to meet with the Airport Health & Safety Committee, but meetings have been suspended by management for some time. Meetings with the Library Committee also have been suspended. However, the cutbacks at the Library present new safety and health issues. Fewer people are on staff at the Library. A lot of them are part-time workers who are not familiar with the Library neighborhoods and can become potential targets. Shortened hours at some branches may create an overcrowded unsafe situation, especially in smaller branches.

Workplace violence was discussed. There is a policy in place now at DHS. Management always views workplace violence as a problem with disruptive employees. Workplace violence incidents are done usually by someone outside rather than in the workplace. People are assaulted in court, their homes, on the street. There was one incident where someone threw an infant at a Social Worker. Assaults can occur in such places as OESS, Libraries and Courtrooms. When you are taken by surprise and deliberately injured, these are some of the worst kinds of injuries. The most serious IOD cases are the ones where people have been assaulted. The International should be notified about helping us provide training if we are not successful with obtaining what we need for our members from the City.

The meeting was adjourned.