By Diane S. Williams

Local 376 and DC 37 slammed the brakes on the Dept. of Transportation with a surprise inspection Aug. 14 that revealed an unsafe fleet of trucks in Brooklyn's Pulaski Street yard.

"This is the cesspool of the DOT," said Local President Gene DeMartino, who joined DC 37 Council Rep David Catala to inspect 13 trucks. Six of the vehicles had more than 14 safety violations each. "We still haven't seen the worst, because I think some of the more dangerous vehicles were moved out," Mr. DeMartino observed.

Over the last three years, the agency claimed to implement an 8-month truck maintenance program. But the gnarled and unsafe trucks driven by Local 376 members assigned to the yard under the McGinness-Humbolt Parkway told another story.

"It's common practice for DOT to send these workers out on unsafe vehicles," said Mr. DeMartino. His members risk life and limb as they drive trucks with broken brake and signal lights, crushed and mangled doors, fenders attached with duct tape, faulty wiring, cracked windshields, exhaust fumes that fill the cabs, missing back gates and other violations of state traffic and safety laws.

Should state agencies that enforce traffic laws and the NYPD ticket the city trucks, the violations would be charged to the driver— whose livelihood depends on maintaining a commercial license and a clean driving record— and not the agency. The set-up jeopardizes the public and the lives and licenses of the union members.

Highway Repairers must turn to DC 37 for legal representation or plead guilty to traffic infractions that are management's fault. The drivers incur points and penalties from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, higher auto insurance rates, and discipline, including unpaid suspensions.

Driving the deathtraps
Members drive the deathtraps because management "plays a demoralizing game of reward and punishment," said Highway Repairer Joseph Cappello. Cronyism, nepotism and inside jobs are reserved for favorites, he said, and the damaged trucks, license problems and discipline are for the rest. Before the August inspection, DOT was in no hurry to fix the trucks.

After meetings with the union and assistance from a newly formed DOT Safety Committee, management took the unsafe trucks out of service. DC 37 also won a new safety procedure: checking the city trucks for violations before they hit the road. And the local is holding ongoing labor-management meetings. "We're fighting to mprove working conditions," Mr. DeMartino said.