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Allegheny County 911 Call Center Staff and Union At Odds with Management Over COVID Protections
To say that employers across the nation have had very mixed responses to operating during the global COVID-19 pandemic is an understatement. Many vital businesses such as supermarkets and pharmacies have implemented significant safety protocols, including installing glass shields, moving to home delivery models or relying heavily on drive-up windows. Restaurants wanting to stay afloat have moved to a delivery-only or curbside pickup business model. In the call center industry – particularly first-response call centers – the efforts have been more patchwork.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting this week that the union representing emergency dispatch call center personnel is formally accusing Allegheny County call center management of doing too little to protect 911 call center workers.
“Management hasn’t stepped up and said we are going to follow what is seen as best practice by the professionals,” Chuck Kuntz, a shift commander at the center and one of four chief shop stewards with the Service Employees International Union Local 668, told the Post-Gazette. “The attitude has been: We are different than everybody else. Your job is unique, and you have to step up to the plate. Management is working from home. And we are being forgotten.”
While the union agrees with management that the nature of emergency dispatch work means many workers simply can’t work from home, the two sides disagree about the steps that have been taken to protect workers. Allegheny County says it’s doing all it can.
“Allegheny County 9-1-1 and Emergency Services have been at the forefront of establishing improved work practices and safeguards throughout this pandemic,” Chief Matt Brown, the county’s director of emergency services, told the Post-Gazette.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents the center’s approximately 240 call takers and dispatchers, contends that management has not made the wearing of masks mandatory, nor has it succeeded in implementing strict social distancing rules or implemented plexiglass separation barriers between employees, and that cleaning and sanitizing has been spotty. The county has disagreed, insisting that physical distancing has been achieved, rendering the use of masks unnecessary.
The union has suggested staggering shifts and other alternative work schedules to cut down on worker exposure, particularly in locker rooms during shift changes.
Edited by Maurice Nagle