After showing up for work only to find the doors locked, Pittsburgh sanitation workers rallied for nearly two hours outside the Bureau of Environmental Services in the Strip District early Wednesday and demanded better protections while refusing to pick up trash.
The leader of the union that represents the workers said the event grew from a misunderstanding.
"The reason the workers freaked out and may have thought they were locked out is because they had just recently heard rumors about a co-worker who had to quarantine due to the coronavirus," said Kevin Schmitt, president of the Teamsters Local 249. "So they show up to work, and they don't know what's going on when the doors are locked."
On Monday, an employee was sent home and ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days after his wife had been potentially exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, Mr. Schmitt said.
When workers arrived for their 5 a.m. shift on Wednesday, they hadn’t been told their start times had been changed to 6 a.m., Mr. Schmitt said.
“No one was told that the door would be locked, it was bad communication,” he said. “Work schedules were changed to start later than usual and spread people out over shifts to reduce spread of the virus, but the workers didn’t know that. You have people who show up early to work, and some who come one minute before start and they didn’t know the door would be locked.”
Several workers clad in orange jumpsuits and neon yellow jackets then stood outside the building. The gathering was livestreamed to Facebook by Fitzroy Moss, a sanitation worker. He and other employees accused the department of not alerting workers to the potential coronavirus exposure.
Mayor Bill Peduto said due to state laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the city doesn’t have the right to disclose details about patients who might have the coronavirus. It’s up to the state Department of Health and the Allegheny County Health Department to do that. He also said the city has been working with the governor's office for over a week to “at least allow our employees to know if they were in contact with somebody [who may have had the virus].”
Mr. Peduto also addressed workers’ complaints about being inadequately equipped to handle a viral pandemic.
“As far as equipment, we have changed the policies, we have been cleaning down the trucks, we have been working with our workers to allow them to clean their gloves on site,” the mayor said. “There had a been a request that they wanted masks.
“Dr. Roth (Ronald Roth, the medical director for the city of Pittsburgh EMS and first responders) talked to the Teamsters leader today. Having masks would actually cause greater health concerns because of the workers putting their gloves up to the mask on their face where they would then be more likely to be able to contact the virus than not having a mask at all to work with.”
During the 90-minute rally, workers parked trucks to block the entrances and exits to the parking lot of the building on Railroad Street. Employees demanded better protective gear, such as masks, to protect them from potential coronavirus exposure and hazard pay to help cover co-payments on medical visits in case they are injured on the job.
“Everybody needs to know what goes on in this department,” said worker Tom Foley. “We’re kind of taken for granted because they don’t have to call for us like they have to call for the fire and police. We just show up and do our job.”
They also asked for an additional set of work boots the workers said they are given just two pairs of boots per year — as well as better gloves. One worker said the gloves they currently use don’t protect their hands and allow water and liquids to drain down inside. Most workers have been purchasing their own surgical gloves since the coronavirus outbreak began, they said.
“Here we are at my job. Ain’t picking up no ‘rub,’ ” Mr. Moss said in the video. “The rubbish is sitting there. That’s all they care about is picking up the garbage. They don’t even care about our health.”
Mr. Moss said they were asked to sign a paper authorizing that workers were evaluated for the virus and he claimed they in fact were not.
“They’re lying to us,” he said.
Wednesday’s gathering was “not a strike,” Mr. Schmitt said, nor is it continuing. He commended the city for working to help provide resources like gloves for workers. Employees were eventually sent home with pay and instructed to report to work Thursday. Trash that was not picked up Wednesday will be picked up by the end of the week, he said.
“They are being compensated today [Wednesday] because the city failed to communicate effectively that work was starting later today,” Mr. Schmitt said. “We weren’t communicated to and neither were our people about the change in work schedules, but that’s no shot against the city. When they got there the door was locked and it is never locked ever, so they didn’t know what to do. With over 100 people coming into work, it caused panic.”
Workers also said they are understaffed, and are forced to juggle two-man trucks when they are supposed to have a third helper during pickups.
"I see all this stuff on Facebook: 'Thanks to the police and the fire because they're out there on the front lines.' 'Thanks to the healthcare workers,'" Mr. Foley continued. "I'm not degrading any of that, but where's our thanks? Because we're more [submerged] in stuff than anybody."
Employees also demanded a meeting with Mr. Peduto, who announced last week that trash would be picked up no matter what. One worker said the union was insulted by that claim and demanded to have a meeting with Mr. Peduto in person.
Mr. Peduto said the city is willing to work with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and address the needs of workers to “lessen any of those impacts.”
“Everything that we have done has been done on an incremental stage where we test and measure and then if needed make changes,” Mr. Peduto said during a phone interview Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner called for more protections for county workers, including those in public works and facilities management.
"To date, nearly all county employees under the administration are being required to report to work, unless he or she is symptomatic and provides an excuse through a healthcare provider. This is in spite of the clear science that indicates that COVID-19 can be spread by asymptomatic individuals and that we are experiencing 'community spread' in Allegheny County," she wrote in her comments delivered on her behalf during County Council's regular meeting.
Ms. Wagner added that the county's directive to its workers has "flown in the face" of the advice being given by the county's own Health Department.
But Councilman Bob Macey said the county is "doing our part."
"We're doing everything we can to limit the chances of this virus escalating ... we're trying to keep two people to a truck, trying to keep people from gathering," he said. "I think [Ms. Wagner is] just a little off the mark."
In surrounding counties like Fayette, County Hauling announced changes last week to protect workers and help prevent spread of COVID-19. Sanitation workers now no longer pick up any kind of loose trash, only bagged items. The organization also has discontinued cardboard collections, unless the cardboard is in a bag with other items, citing details from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the coronavirus can live on cardboard up to 24 hours and on plastic up to three days.
Fayette County has pending plans to eliminate recycling curbside collections, as well as trash pick up in general, should spread of the virus become rampant in the community and among sanitation employees. County Hauling also plans to provide dumpsters for trash at community centers or borough buildings should spread of the virus worsen as a “final resort,” the company said in a statement last week.
Waste Management recently announced the temporary closure of some residential contact centers throughout the state. The company said it is maintaining standard collection services.
The company said while standard collection includes solid municipal waste and recycling, Waste Management suspended the pick up of bulk items such as furniture, carpet, mattresses and appliances starting Wednesday. The agency that services over 250,000 residents in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas of North Hills, South Hills, and Beaver also has suspended yard waste collection of grass clippings, brush and tree limbs.
Spokeswoman Lisa Kardell said Waste Management has not altered any scheduling and the coronavirus outbreak has not impacted the amount of workers deployed for trash pickup.
"While we are in a state of emergency, we want to be able to focus on essential waste that needs to be collected at this time," Ms. Kardell said Wednesday. She said she was unsure if workers were provided with extra protective gear such as masks to prevent virus exposure, but that all workers are and always have been required to wear standard personal protective equipment.
Lacretia Wimbley: lwimbley@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1510 or on Twitter @Wimbleyjourno; Alexis Johnson: ajohnson@post-gazette.com and Twitter @alexisjreports; Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com or @Ashley__Murray
First Published: March 25, 2020, 12:50 p.m.
Updated: March 25, 2020, 8:49 p.m.
