CWA District 2-13 OSH Conference Call Dec. 15, 2015 Minutes

CWA District 2-13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call                                                                 
Conducted Tuesday, December 15, 2015 from 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.  

• Participants-                                            
  Bubba Craddock, CWA Local 2201
  Cacci Greenfield, President, Jamie Bricker, and Jesse Davis, CWA Local 2222
  Bill Evitt, CWA Representative, and
  David LeGrande, CWA Occupational Safety and Health Director
  
  
• Participant Reports/New Issues-
  
  Cacci Greenfield, CWA Local 2222, reported a member fatality. John Hare, 51 years of age with 26 years of seniority as a Verizon technician, died on December 14 after falling from a ladder while performing aerial work.  At present, Local 2222 is working closely with Verizon to determine the cause of this tragedy as well as providing counseling and other assistance to family members and co-workers. Also, the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSH) is conducting a fatality investigation. As more information becomes, available, Cacci mentioned she would provide it.
  
  David LeGrande reported on fatalities involving two CWA Local 3676 members (Dennis Martin and Daniel Anderson) employed by SPX Transformer Solutions, Goldsboro, North Carolina. This tragedy occurred on November 30 as one of the workers was overcome by nitrogen gas while performing testing functions. Upon seeing his co-worker collapse, another worker went to rescue him, whereupon he was overcome. A third worker was affected, but after a brief hospital stay, has fully recovered. Working with Gilbert Cutlip, President of Local 3676, to provide affected family members and co-workers with counseling and support are District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt; CWA Staff Representative, Vonda Hardy; and the Union’s Occupational Safety and Health Department. At present, North Carolina OSHA is conducting a fatality investigation.  

• CWA District 2-13/Verizon Occupational Safety and Health Committee-
  
  Bill Evitt, CWA Representative reported there are no planned meetings while the contractual dispute with Verizon continues.
  
  
• Asbestos
  
  Jesse Davis, CWA Local 2222, reported on continuing work to bring Verizon into compliance with the 2015 VOSH/Verizon asbestos settlement agreement. Following VOSH’s citations against Verizon for non-compliance with the OSHA Asbestos Standard (and potential exposure of Local 2222 members/Verizon technicians), VOSH and the Company entered into a settlement agreement to ensure such non-compliance and potential technician exposure would not occur in the future. One of the agreed upon conditions included a stipulation Verizon would identify asbestos-containing manholes. However, Jesse reported Verizon has not been conducting such identification activities. Thus, in coordination with District 2-13 and the Union’s Occupational Safety and Health Department, Local 2222 and Bill Evitt have distributed a memo informing all CWA Virginia locals of the settlement agreement’s required asbestos identification procedures. Bill Evitt and Jesse Davis mentioned they would provide updated information.
  
  David LeGrande reported on the almost identical asbestos exposure case involving Local 2204 members/Verizon technicians. At present, VOSH has issued citations against the Company.

• CWA/USW Occupational Safety and Health Training-                                                        
  David LeGrande announced the CWA/USW occupational safety and health training grant received funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The grant period runs from August 1, 2015 through July 31, 2020. Joining CWA and the USW in the five-year grant are two worker center organizations, Make the Road- New York, and the National Day Labor Organizing Network. Along with the CWA Occupational Safety and Health Strategic Industry Fund, grant funds will allow CWA to continue and expand its safety and health training activities. Primary topics will include heat stress, lead, and hazard recognition and control.
  
  David also mentioned the excellent one-week, grant-sponsored CWA/USW OSH Train-the-Trainer class held October 26-30 at USW Headquarters, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 12 CWA activists, including Bubba Craddock, CWA Local 2201, participated. Bubba discussed the merits and depth of the training noting he has been informing his local officers of the training. During the early part of 2016, he will be working to organize and schedule training involving CWA Virginia locals.     

• OSHA Construction Industry Confined Spaces Standard-                                                     
  David LeGrande discussed the present status of the standard noting although it is presently in effect, since AT&T and Verizon have filed to block the standard, enforcement of the standard within the telecommunications industry is questionable. The companies are opposed to the standard because it provides substantially more protection to affected workers particularly in areas related to training; provision of a second person within close proximity of the work site in case of an emergency; provision of a trained, competent person to evaluate the working a conditions and air monitoring requirements. After considerable discussion, David mentioned CWA Headquarters is involved in the legal aspects of the case and will keep all informed with new developments.

• Workplace Violence-                                                                                                                
  David LeGrande asked participants if outside of the previous discussion re. hostile behavior exhibited by customers towards customer service representatives, if there were any active workplace violence cases. Fortunately, no new cases were reported.      

• Date of the Next CWA District 2-13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call-
  
  The next CWA District 2-13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call will be held Monday, March 14, 2016 from 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.