Public Employee Press

Contracting out
Safety hazard

Contracting out radio repair work to firms whose workers don’t have to pass extensive background checks endangers the public, first responders and the security of the New York City’s emergency communications network.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Radio repairers in Local 1087 say contracting out has become a growing danger to public safety, first responders and the security of the city's communications network. Before they can work on emergency vehicle radios or the emergency dispatch and communication system that first responders depend on to communicate with command posts and each other, city Radio Repair Mechanics must be tested and must pass extensive background checks. But the Bloomberg administration has allowed this vital work force of dedicated city radio repairers to dwindle as the use of private contractors with untested and unchecked employees has increased.

"We provide an essential service, maintaining the communications infrastructure of emergency response vehicles - ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and helicopters - for the city's Fire, Police and Corrections departments, but management doesn't seem too concerned about this growing danger," said Local 1087 President Manuel A. Roman Jr. Roman works in a firehouse radio repair shop, one of four in the city. His shop has lost 30 percent of its staff of radio repairers and clerical-administrative workers.

Staffing levels for Radio Repair Mechanics - prevailing rate workers who have the right to demand pay comparable to similar workers in the private sector - have declined in the Police and Corrections departments as well.

Radio Repair Mechanics fix and maintain the radios first responders rely on for assignments in emergency situations, possibly including future terrorist attacks, as well as those in the vehicles and ambulances they drive and the helicopters they pilot.

Three years ago, when the hard-to-recruit RRMs settled an eight-year fight with the Bloomberg administration for pay parity with private-sector radio and television engineers, their salaries went to $85,000 annually from $58,000.

"The city contracts out maintenance of the emergency services dispatch system with little or no oversight of these private consultants," said Roman. "When the warrantees expire, there aren't enough city radio repairers to maintain this complex system."

DC 37 says using a workforce of qualified, unionized civil service employees who are tested and who pass background checks is critical to the security of the 911 emergency response system. "This is essential for the safety of the public and the workers who protect them," Roman said.

Many radio repairers are working overtime to handle the growing backlog of repairs. Because upper management has chopped the numbers of support staff, including clerical workers and secretaries in repair shops, "Supervisors have to do more administrative work, which takes time and expertise away from handling the repair backlog," Roman said. Inadequate staffing levels also decrease productivity and lead to burnout.

"Just like the Police Officers, Firefighters and ambulance crews, our members are deeply concerned with public safety and the security of our emergency radio networks," Roman said, "but our managers are operating like bean counters. They are more interested in reducing head counts and budgets."

He pointed out that official reports had revealed serious problems with the radio systems of first responders to the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and especially the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when many deaths of emergency personnel were attributed to the inability of the Police and Fire departments to communicate with each other due to incompatible equipment and limited access to the radio frequencies used by emergency response units.

The city's Emergency Communications Transformation Program - a plan to overhaul and unify the emergency and disaster communications network that was contracted out by the Bloomberg administration - was plagued by multiyear delays and ran up $1 billion in cost overruns, according to an audit by New York City Comptroller John Liu.

The current situation is especially worrisome, Roman said, because now that the city is finally implementing a new emergency radio system, there are not enough Radio Repair Mechanics to maintain it. "Delays here," he said, "can ultimately cost lives. Contracting out again threatens public safety."

DC 37 and Local 1087 have called for increased hiring of city radio repairers and have reached out to warn city officials of the danger of continued contracting out in this critical life-or-death profession.

Manny Roman says his members wonder, "Will it take another disaster to make the city address this problem?"