Public Employee Press

Local 983 pushes city to hire MVOs

When a fire engine breaks down, when the Police need to tow criminals' cars, when the Administration for Children's Services needs to take a child in protective care to an out-of-state relative - the city calls on Local 983's Motor Vehicle Operators to do the job skillfully and safely.

The workload is greater than ever, but the ranks of MVOs have been cut to less than half what they were a decade ago.

As drivers retired, the Bloomberg administration refused to hire replacements and attrition eroded the workforce to fewer than 230 MVOs, down from more than 500 before Bloomberg took office, said Local 983 President Joe Puleo.

"The lack of MVOs disrupts traffic flow and hurts the delivery of emergency services, reducing the availability of emergency responders who drive Police and Fire Department vehicles and ambulances," Puleo said.

At a series of labor-management meetings, the local stressed the connection between MVO staffing and public safety, and many in management now agree that the city needs to hire more drivers and tow truck operators, Puleo said.

"Understaffing makes our members work longer shifts - some 16 hours a day, 60 hours a week. They risk burnout. Bloomberg's hiring freeze jeopardizes workers' safety as well as public safety," Puleo said.

In addition to normal towing of about four vehicles a day for violations, MVOs respond to crime scenes to remove vehicles used to traffic drugs or guns or hide dead bodies. They tow crashed vehicles from roadways to keep traffic moving and rescue broken-down police cars so cops can go about their jobs.

MVOs also haul emergency vehicles like Fire Dept. ladder trucks and ambulances to repair shops, transport explosive oxygen tanks to hospitals for the Health and Hospitals Corp. and bring dead bodies to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office for autopsies after fires and drownings.

"Hiring more MVOs is critical," said Local 983 Vice President Marvin Robbins. "The city has less than half the number of workers it needs."

Local 983 leaders plan to present this dire safety concern to Mayor de Blasio and testify on the issue at City Council budget hearings to seek funding to hire 250 additional Motor Vehicle Operators at various agencies. "We are asking the city to move the existing civil service lists," Puleo said.