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Date: | Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:51:11 -0100 |
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I was at a NYC school project yesterday. In order to limit the exposure
of children to construction these projects are done at night shift. I
understand that the unions made a deal with New York State something to
the effect that they would reduce their labor rates by 10% as long as
the work (we are talking billions of dollars here) would be restricted
to a union workforce. It has always been my understanding, picked up at
my grandfather's knee, that the primary purpose of union is to protect
the workers from abuse of the capitalists.
Some 50' up in the air on pipe scaffold (the School Construction
Authority rightly is adverse to any use of swing stage technology since
untrained idiots keep falling off of buildings -- they are paranoid that
kids will get hit) we come across a line of 'masons' cutting out mortar
joints. Firstly with a quick glance they are only cutting them to 1/4"
depth. They have grinders with vacume cleaners attached to suck the
dust. This, we can assume, is to limit the dust exposure for the school
kids - who are nowhere in sight. It takes me less than one minute to
walk past the activity and hold my breath and since this morning I have
had to cough to get the dust out of my system. My head feels stuffed.
There are like six mechanics who work in a row at one level of plank on
the wall. In the past I have called this practice cluster pointers. They
all wear hard hats but no goggles. Every one of them, including the guy
that many years ago worked for me non-union (I am glad to see that he
has a good paying job since when he came to us he had no clue what he
was doing, but he had a good attitude) are grinding away without ear
protection... and with their dust masks neatly pulled down beneath their
noses so that they can breath more easily.
To consider these guys can only think that the vacume cleaners that suck
up - some of the dust - reduces their risk of silicosis. Here we have a
technology applied mainly to advert a sociologic paranoia -- that it
would get in the newspaper that kids are exposed to mortar dust. The
kids are protected and the union workers -- what it really comes down to
is that they are not-so-loong-ago non-union workers that have become
union and the dues vig is paid... have no clue that they expose
themselves to serious health problems in the not-so-distant future.
Consider even one minute of exposure... they are doing this for 8 hour
shifts in limited light conditions, at night.
This baffles me.
][<en
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