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    DC DPW Leaf Season Crew: Used & Abused

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    Akili West
    Last year a few of the dedicated men and women of the Department of Public Works (DPW) who are Ward 8 residents met with the members of MegaCommunity Ward 8 and relayed their grievances. What I garnered from the discussion is that there appears to be a culture of nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and "budgetism" within DPW that prevents them from landing careers, as opposed to the perpetual cycle of seasonal employment in which they constantly find themselves. Furthermore, like you and I, their bills and responsibilities to their families are not seasonal, yet the service they provide through their work is vital to Washington, DC. This year, they are going through the same cycle again...

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    DC DPW Leaf Season Crew: Used & Abused

    Uploaded by

    Akili West
    139 views3 pages
    Last year a few of the dedicated men and women of the Department of Public Works (DPW) who are Ward 8 residents met with the members of MegaCommunity Ward 8 and relayed their grievances. What I garnered from the discussion is that there appears to be a culture of nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and "budgetism" within DPW that prevents them from landing careers, as opposed to the perpetual cycle of seasonal employment in which they constantly find themselves. Furthermore, like you and I, their bills and responsibilities to their families are not seasonal, yet the service they provide through their work is vital to Washington, DC. This year, they are going through the same cycle again...

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    Last year a few of the dedicated men and women of the Department of Public Works (DPW) who are Ward 8 residents met with the members of MegaCommunity Ward 8 and relayed their grievances. What I garnered from the discussion is that there appears to be a culture of nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and "budgetism" within DPW that prevents them from landing careers, as opposed to the perpetual cycle of seasonal employment in which they constantly find themselves. Furthermore, like you and I, their bills and responsibilities to their families are not seasonal, yet the service they provide through their work is vital to Washington, DC. This year, they are going through the same cycle again...

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    139 views3 pages

    DC DPW Leaf Season Crew: Used & Abused

    Uploaded by

    Akili West
    Last year a few of the dedicated men and women of the Department of Public Works (DPW) who are Ward 8 residents met with the members of MegaCommunity Ward 8 and relayed their grievances. What I garnered from the discussion is that there appears to be a culture of nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and "budgetism" within DPW that prevents them from landing careers, as opposed to the perpetual cycle of seasonal employment in which they constantly find themselves. Furthermore, like you and I, their bills and responsibilities to their families are not seasonal, yet the service they provide through their work is vital to Washington, DC. This year, they are going through the same cycle again...

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Wednesday, April 29, 2015

    Mr. Rashad Young, City Administrator


    The City of Washington, DC
    John A Wilson Building
    1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 521
    Washington, DC 20004
    CC: Councilmember Mary Cheh
    1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 108
    Dear Mr. Young:
    We are reaching out and requesting a meeting with you in order to find
    solutions to an issue that has plagued the Leaf Season Program Crew
    specifically, and the Department of Public Works more generally, for many
    years now. The hardworking men and women of the Leaf Season Program
    Crew are those seasonal employees brought on each year in the fall, who
    work hard through the winter and early spring to ensure that DPW is able to
    clear the city of the deluge of leaves, debris, snow, and garbage.
    Recently, a few of these dedicated men and women of DPW who are Ward 8
    residents met with the members of MegaCommunity Ward 8 and relayed
    their grievances. What I garnered from the discussion is that there appears
    to be a culture of nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and "budgetism"
    within DPW that prevents them from landing careers, as opposed to the
    perpetual cycle of seasonal employment in which they constantly find
    themselves. Furthermore, like you and I, their bills and responsibilities to
    their families are not seasonal, yet the service they provide through their
    work is vital to our city.
    Last summer they were brought on-board for the Trash Can Removal and
    Replacement Project, a task that included cleaning out a warehouse full of
    old cans which had been left with rotting garbage in them (separating the
    cans out for recycling). The task left many of them with skin infections. This
    winter they walked down snow-filled alleys that werent yet plowed, pulling
    cans out of yards and down alleys to the streets in order to empty them into
    their trucks. Many of them went back and plowed those same alleys later.
    They didnt make the tough policy or logistical decisions, but they got the
    tough jobs done. These workers, many of whom are Motor Vehicle Operators
    with Class A CDL licenses, handled everything that was asked of them
    without complaint, often without the proper protective gear, and without the
    benefit of health insurance to cover the many maladies they suffered as a
    result.

    On April 4, 2015, they were unceremoniously terminated for their best


    efforts, just days before a planned Sanitation Worker Appreciation Day
    ceremony at a church on 16th Street NW. The good citizens of the church and
    surrounding neighborhoods, graciously showed appreciation for sanitation
    workers and their hard work, but the Leaf Season Crew werent even invited
    by DPW.
    The irony is that their terminations came 47 years to the date that Dr. Martin
    Luther King Jr. gave his life in support of better work conditions and equal
    pay for the striking Memphis Sanitation workers in Tennessee. The DPW Leaf
    Season Program Crew feels that they are in a similar situation to those
    striking sanitation workers 47 years ago. Many have worked diligently season
    after season for up to ten years and have not been hired permanently. They
    have to sign away any right to recompense if injured on the job, have no
    health or retirement benefits, and they are expected to perform some
    of DPW's most arduous and dangerous tasks. They work outside in the rain
    with no shelter, in some of the dirtiest, most unsanitary conditions, and often
    without proper protection or tools. They work through sickness and family
    tragedies for fear that they will be let go, or possibly lose their "position" in
    line for a permanent job. For the most part, they get to work on-time, work
    their hearts out all day, and consistently see themselves used to train those
    "new-comers" who would eventually get the coveted permanent jobs.
    According to the Leaf Season Crew there is a feudal system that exists
    for DPW jobs, and no matter how hard they work, many are not put into the
    pipeline for permanent employment unless they are "chosen" as someones
    flunky or friend.
    After listening to their grievances I have boiled them down to the following:
    1.
    The Leaf Season workers are kept in permanent limbo,
    intentionally, and they make up a de-facto strike-busting crew if they
    were ever needed to be such.
    2.
    Their time on the job as seasonal employees is not counted
    towards term or retirement when and if they do ever progress to
    permanent employment.
    3.
    The evaluation system is the mechanism used to prevent and
    promote according to favoritism. The process is flawed and needs to be
    investigated and changed.
    4.
    Term positions arent posted and there is no clear and transparent
    process as to how Leaf Season Program Crew can get Term and
    Permanent positions. I was told the chosen people are pulled to the
    side and told that they have a position before ever applying. Then they

    apply. Both the requirements and the process need to be investigated


    thoroughly by an independent body.
    5.
    Leaf Season Program Crew has to work in some of the most
    dangerous conditions, often without proper protective gear, without
    health benefits, and they must sign away all rights to legal recourse.
    Their pay does not reflect the level of liability they are expected to
    incur.
    I have high hopes for the Bowser Administration and have faith that you
    possess the determination to get to the heart of issues such as this one. I
    hope that you can find time to meet with the group, hear them out, and look
    for solutions to help these workers held in limbo reach the coveted middle
    class. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
    All the best,
    Akili West
    MegaCommunity Ward 8
    Please click link to see community feedback: https://youtu.be/yFafUEhOJxc
    Community View of the Importance of DPW Leaf Season Crew
    Leaf Season Program Crew Contacts:
    Taj Gilmor [email protected]
    Isiah McKeever [email protected]

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