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                  Get to know your Business Agent today!  Find out how the union makes a difference on the job. |
Newsline: March 2005 Member Monitors Workers’ Safety at 9/11 Site
Having lived through the tragic events of 9/11, I have been vigorously active in attempting to have counseling provided to the members who would be returning to 90 Church Street. Environmental security for my fellow employees became an important passion of mine. I was also very concerned about impending demolition of other buildings in the area and the effect it would have on the environment. As the designated union rep, I vocalized the union’s concerns about environmental contaminations in the building and the fears of workers who have not yet recovered from the trauma of 9/11 and their close proximity to the World Trade Center. I conducted a walk-through of the newly renovated but as yet unoccupied 90 Church Street building with Local 237 Housing Director Ed Kane, on January 7, 2004, along with representatives from various other locals, and an industrial hygienist from NYCOSH [New York Committee on Safety and Health]. I, along with Ed Kane, inspected the floors our members were going to be occupying. On first inspection the place looked like a huge empty airplane hangar. We saw signs where mold was removed; we looked in the air-handling ducts, stairwells, the insets of the building, making sure it was safe and clean. We went from floor to floor along with a health & safety expert from the carpenter’s union who volunteered to give us his expertise and opinions to let us know if it would be safe for the members to return. We agreed at that time that the interior was probably cleaner now than when we first occupied the building prior to 9/11. Our concern was not only the clean-up of the building but also what type of counseling would be provided to the employees who witnessed the attacks [on 9/11] and how NYCHA will continue to keep the building environmentally clean. Decision Is Made In March 2004, I received a call from the health and safety officer of the New York State Department of Health which would also occupy several floors in the building, asking if I would like to represent Local 237 in a coalition of other Locals returning to 90 Church Street. I immediately contacted Local 237 and spoke with Ed Kane who in turn asked Carl Haynes and they unanimously decided that I would represent the Local. A group consisting of Local 237, Organization of Staff Analysts, DC 37, PEF, CSEA, State Department of Health and the mail handlers union formed the “90 Church Street Labor Coalition.” Local 237 and OSA, the lead locals at NYCHA, have been meeting every month since March 2004. After our first few meetings coalition members rolled up their sleeves and met several times before requesting a Labor/Management meeting with NYCHA. Prior to any employees returning to 90 Church, Local 237 and the coalition requested that the air quality be tested and results given to us. This was done. We asked for the counseling to be extended for employees; this too was done. At that meeting we listed our concerns, submitted them to NYCHA and requested another meeting to follow up on our requests. NYCHA continues to meet with the various locals as we try to work together to make sure the air we breathe is safe and clean. I’m happy to report that NYCHA has worked with us in a cooperative manner, including conducting building evacuation drills which is one of the items we requested. |
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 Shop Steward Lainie Kitt |
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The New York City Housing Authority reopened its offices at 90 Church Street in August 2004, forcing several hundred Local 237 members to return to a building they had fled in horror three years earlier on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.