In Massachusetts, 20 state building and engineer inspectors were suspended for refusing to take GPS-enabled cell phones from the public safety commissioner, the Boston Globe reports. Commission inspectors are primarily responsible for over-looking construction and other maintenance tasks like amusement rides. The workers were suspended without pay for two days and fair warned that if they do not take the phones when they return to work tomorrow, they’d face further corrective action. In the meantime, “the available workforce is dramatically reduced" among inspectors, Kelly Nantel, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Public Safety said. The grievances filed by inspectors claim that state officials have violated Massachusetts’ law and the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. Only two inspectors accepted the phones in this particular union, while over 40 elevator inspectors accepted the phones in a different union. Boston's school bus drivers and state snowplow contractors have also fought the installation of GPS devices, though such devices now exist in both places, the Globe reports.
0 Comments