Toiletgate

March 8, 2018 NTEU280

If you saw the story we posted yesterday, you know that EPA planned to shut off the water to EPA's Potomac Yard building for half a day for nearly 1000 employees. No drinking water, no toilets, no sprinkler system to suppress fires, and no sinks to clean up dirty dishes. EPA was refusing to close the building and place employees without telework agreements on administrative leave, something they're required to do.

When NTEU 280 learned from a member of this not-well-thought-out idea, we sprung into action and sent a strongly-worded email to facilities management informing them that they were violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and the EPA-NTEU Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). We said:

...the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires one toilet fixture for about every 20 people up to 150 employees, then they require on additional fixture for each 40 people. If there are 800 employees in the PY building, that would mean there needs to be at least 23 operational toilets to ensure the health and safety of EPA employees in the building. See 29 C.F.R. § 1910.141(c)(1)(i). The NTEU-EPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) guarantees that EPA "will provide a safe and healthy work environment for employees” and “will comply with all applicable provisions of the General Standards of the Occupational and Safety Health Administration as well as with all other appropriate relevant health and safety codes and standards.” CBA Article 26, Section 1(A). As both Nate and Diane noted, there is a no-cost solution to this problem called telework. There is a lower cost solution called administrative leave. Neither of these require overtime payment to Arlington County. One note for the future, had FMSD coordinated with the unions well in advance of its contractual commitments, which it did not, we would have made you aware of these issues. So if there are additional costs, those costs cannot be pinned on the union and lie solely with FMSD and its management. We expect that the agency will meet its obligations under the OSHA rules and the CBA to provide the appropriate number of water closets during the workday. Best regards, Joe Senior VP

We're happy to report that NTEU's intervention avoided a potentially messy situation. By 3:00 in the afternoon, management called off this during-the-workday water shutoff and informed employees that the work would be conducted after hours or on a weekend.

We're pleased that common sense prevailed but are disappointed that management once again failed to consult with the union in advance, and also disappointed that it was necessary to explain what should have been common sense to facilities' management.