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You can’t get clean air from a ventilation system unless you
keep the system dirt-free with routine maintenance, a step the Dept.
of Sanitation skips regularly. Its registers and air vents are filthy
and covered with black soot.
Staff of the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept. and the Clerical-Administrative
Division inspected Sanitation facilities twice, on April 22 and again
Oct. 4. They found the same filthy air vents both times.
Improper furniture
On Oct. 4, Assistant Division Director Ron Arnero toured three DOS
facilities in Queens. “The air vents in all three locations have
not been cleaned for some time,” he said. “Apparently, no
one has been assigned to clean them.”
In addition to the unhealthy ventilation systems, the members of Clerical-Administrative
Employees Local 1549 in Sanitation are working on computer terminals
without the proper ergonomic (adapted for workers) furniture.
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Also missing is ergonomic equipment such as document holders, anti-glare
screens, footrests, tray rests and articulated keyboards.
Safety Coordinator Russell Johnson said the union has been trying
to get the DOS to recognize that its civilian employees have a contractual
right to a clean, safe and sanitary environment. “Just because
they work in a Sanitation garage doesn’t mean that they have
to be subjected to the conditions of the field workers,” said
Mr. Johnson.
Clerical Division Council Rep Eddie Douglass summed the situation
up more bluntly: “For an agency that’s supposed to be in
charge of cleaning up, they’re one of the worst at cleaning!
Their offices are so dirty I don’t know how they got the name
‘Sanitation!’ ”
The local’s grievance on these issues is scheduled for arbitration
Nov. 18.