California clean-up causing union commotion

Roadside crews in California are up in arms over cleaning up an increasing amount of garbage – much of it unhealthy, some of it potentially lethal. US media are reporting that the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents California state's maintenance workers, filed a grievance accusing the state of subjecting its members to hazardous conditions without proper training or equipment.
May 9, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Roadside crews in California are up in arms over cleaning up an increasing amount of garbage – much of it unhealthy, some of it potentially lethal.


US media are reporting that the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents California state's maintenance workers, filed a grievance accusing the state of subjecting its members to hazardous conditions without proper training or equipment.

Workers also must face hostility from residents in encampments of homeless people whom they are having to move on and clean up after.

"Their job is to maintain the highways and freeways,” Steve Crouch, a director with the union, reportedly said. “That's filling the potholes, that's doing the striping of the lines, that's doing the guardrails alone the edge, that's trimming the trees and shrubs and bushes along the highway. Their job is not to clean up homeless encampments."

He said the union believes that the state is not issuing workers with essential personal protective equipment, giving them the necessary training, necessary vaccinations and proper compensation for the dangerous hazmat duties.

Crouch commented on the nature of hazardous material, including faeces, urine, feminine products, needles and syringes. Workers also face dangerous dogs owned by encampment residents.

2451 California Department of Transportation estimated the cost of cleaning up after homeless groups was around US$10 million in 2016-17 – a third more than the previous period. Maintenance crews encountered about 7,000 homeless camps on rights of way of the state's 254 highways, according to news reports.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide
    April 12, 2012
    Professor Martin Snaith, O.B.E., introduces an annual gathering that has grown over the years to become perhaps the world's foremost professional development forum promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide. Over more than 15 years the Senior Road Executives Programme (SRE), organised by the internationally renowned Highways Group of the University of Birmingham, UK, in association with IRF, has established a worldwide reputation for providing top-quality professional development for executives worki
    Read More
  • The cycle of potholes in the UK
    October 1, 2019
    Since 2015 almost a million potholes have been recorded annually by UK local authorities, with the 2016 count reaching 1,088,965, according to an insurance provider.
    Read More
  • Digital opportunities: Eurasphalt & Eurobitume (E&E) event, Berlin
    July 3, 2018
    Traditional players in the European bitumen sector need to grasp digital technology in all its forms to survive. Kristina Smith reports from the recent E&E conference in Berlin.
    Read More
  • Checking out Europe's motorway service stations
    February 14, 2012
    A survey of a number of Europe's motorway filling stations have thrown up surprising results: some good, some bad. Experts from EuroTest have travelled almost 34,000km to check out 77 filling stations along the most important travel routes in Europe. Keeping a close eye on cameras and staff that might "blow their cover," the results they brought home with them showed that not a single facility [visited] warranted a very good rating.
    Read More

Highlighted Content