Bridge Operators
Organizing Committee
FDOT Districts 1
& 7
August 26, 2013
Florida Department of Transportation
Office of Maintenance
ATTN. Mr. Tim Latner, Director
605 Suwannee Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Dear Sir,
When choosing to outsource bridge operators we doubt your
department envisioned the rampant profiteering and exploitation that ensues
under ICA and their subcontractor ISS. We, the bridge tenders of Districts 1
& 7 suffer under their abhorrent and capricious employment policies. The
following disparities, bully tactics and conflicts of interest threaten the
safe and reliable operation of your bridges. We ask for your kind intervention.
Wages and benefits cause us great personal pain. Please
refer to the latest Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
report to see the mean wage for bridge and lock tenders in Florida reported at
$19.04/hr. Our gross pay in District One is $8.25/hr and in Seven it’s
$8.75/hr. In at least two other previously unionized Districts ISS pays up to
$10.75/hr with benefits that vary according to the union contract. In Districts 1 & 7 we receive no
holidays, sick days or personal days - virtually no benefits at all.
History shows only when bridge tenders collectively bargain
with ISS is there meaningful change. Our attempt to gain standing and
collectively bargain was met with the unlawful confiscation of our petition
when ISS demonstrated a blatant lack of respect for our rights under the
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Our offers of concessions and appeals to
reason are stonewalled. We non-union-represented operators are employed “at
will”, a relationship that creates fear of
dismissal and demands our anonymity. ICA was notified and shows no
concern. It’s documented since
04/01/13 at: www.bestbridge.blogspot.com
.
We are filing charges with the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) for unfair labor action. After asking the Employment Standards
Administration’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) for an opinion, we believe
FDOT-ICA-ISS are in violation of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act
(SCA). We believe the spirit of the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) should prevail
Statewide “subcontractors must pay no less than locally prevailing wages and
fringe benefits in the area” and ask this
protection against exploitation and profiteering at the hands of contractors
and subcontractors is included in your next Agreement.
You too suffer from these middlemen with their inherent
conflict of interest. Because ISS is dependent upon ICA for the contracting of
and payment for their services they are obliged to maintain a cordial
(preferential) relationship with their contractor. That obligation impedes our
open reporting by ISS employees to FDOT inspectors. We are encouraged not to
volunteer anything to FDOT inspectors and Drawbridge Malfunction Reports are
completed only with supervisor approval. Please require that operators are employed
under the “for cause” (currently “at
will”) relationship necessary to speak
freely and openly, making us full partners in the safe and reliable operation
of your bridges.
We ask you to disclose the wage and benefit sum factored
into your District 1 & 7 Blanket Services Agreements for operator services
and if it includes a 3% annual increase. If not an explicit sum please give the
parameters you use to measure, define and evaluate those costs. While questioning the fundamental
social morality of the State outsourcing our job, we recognize middlemen are
entitled to costs plus fair profit. We are also entitled to what is fair
including “indemnification from operator errors or omissions” in the next Agreement.
In summary, we respectfully ask you to:
1.
Audit ICA and ISS to uncover and stop profiteering.
2.
Insist operators are employed under a “for cause”
relationship.
3.
Protect operators with indemnification against errors and
omissions.
4.
Require no less than prevailing local wages and benefits be
paid to operators.
5.
Disclose the basis on which you calculate and pay for operator
remuneration.
It’s your right and your duty to stop this exploitation and
end relationships that engender silence. Help us earn a modest living wage with
benefits and protect your operators so we may better protect the safety of the
public and the reliable operation of your bridges.
Sincerely,
The Organizing Committee
P.S. We regret the temporary need for anonymity, to be
lifted once our charges are filed with the NLRB after which we may speak more
openly and directly. Meanwhile please respond to our committee via email.
According to Health And Safety Training Peterborough, it is worker's right to get working training before doing the actual work. The work which involves life thread should never be undertaken by anyone unless the company has given the employee the training on it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jake Blues for writing such an informative article.
Regards,
Arnold Brame