A least they had a mask go a bit further south and they use their
handkerchief over their nose and no vac.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: The Louis Sullivan Smiley-Face Listserv!
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gabriel
Orgrease
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 7:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] Mortar Joint Human-Technology Interface

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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