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Caltrans workers file grievance against dangers of clearing homeless encampments
KTVU ^ | 4/30/18 | Tom Vacar

Posted on 05/02/2018 2:03:03 PM PDT by jeannineinsd

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Caltrans got notice and formal grievance from its highway maintenance workers that they are sick, tired and disgusted with homeless camp clean up.

Caltrans finds itself between a rock and a hard place; between the homeless and its employees.

Cleaning up homeless camps is often dangerous for the crews tasked with doing the work. Often the ground is a muddy, slippery, debris ridden stew of things that are exceedingly sharp or dangerous to touch, such as potentially toxic or biologically unsafe materials.

"Feces and urine and feminine products and all kinds of things on the ground; needles, syringes, you know they use buckets, five-gallon buckets for toilets and it gets really disgusting," said Caltrans union executive, Steve Crouch. And, that is to say nothing of the open hostility that often comes from those from those being evicted.

"Sometime they have pit bulls in there, They'll, you know, let the dogs loose to chase the Caltrans workers out. Sometimes they'll throw rocks at the Caltrans workers," said Crouch. Add to that: live electrical lines and even the occasional weapon.

That's why the Caltrans maintenance workers union, the International Union of Operating Engineers, filed an official grievance.

Caltrans issued this statement today; "Safety is a top priority for Caltrans and we will carefully review the grievance."

"Their job is to maintain the highways and freeways, you know, 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," said Crouch.

(Excerpt) Read more at ktvu.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: caltrans; homeless; union
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I think the union has a point in this instance. If the Caltrans employees are going to be assigned to clean up homeless camps, they will need training and protective gear in dealing with the hazardous material, in my opinion.
1 posted on 05/02/2018 2:03:03 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
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To: jeannineinsd

Flame throwers would work well.


2 posted on 05/02/2018 2:05:22 PM PDT by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Gone but not forgiven.)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: jeannineinsd

thanks to the leadership of California, these homeless camps exist. Now the workers have to clean up the mess the Democrats created


4 posted on 05/02/2018 2:07:31 PM PDT by realcleanguy
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To: jeannineinsd

Pull every city worker out of their cubicles by the scruff of their necks and have them get down there with bags and hats.


5 posted on 05/02/2018 2:08:13 PM PDT by samadams2000 (Someone important make......The Call!)
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To: jeannineinsd

If people doing the cleaning aren’t properly trained and provided with appropriate PPE, they’ve got a beef.


6 posted on 05/02/2018 2:08:15 PM PDT by mewzilla (Has the FBI been spying on members of Congress?)
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To: reg45

Flamethrowers followed by bulldozers with Rome plows.


7 posted on 05/02/2018 2:09:47 PM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: jeannineinsd

Sounds like a job for Bernie’s guaranteed wage earners just looking to make $15 an hour. /s


8 posted on 05/02/2018 2:10:51 PM PDT by Hoffer Rand (God be greater than the worries in my life, be stronger than the weakness in my mind, be magnified.)
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To: jeannineinsd

Make the elected officials clean up the camps.


9 posted on 05/02/2018 2:11:58 PM PDT by WayneS (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill)
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To: jeannineinsd

Full auto...would work.


10 posted on 05/02/2018 2:16:37 PM PDT by Osage Orange (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)
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To: reg45

11 posted on 05/02/2018 2:16:55 PM PDT by Enterprise
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To: realcleanguy

These union employees voted for this manure let them clean it up.


12 posted on 05/02/2018 2:19:41 PM PDT by chuckb87
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To: samadams2000

Starting with the executives and “social services” staffs


13 posted on 05/02/2018 2:20:49 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: jeannineinsd

This (cleaning up after the homeless) is what property owners have been dealing with for years.


14 posted on 05/02/2018 2:24:13 PM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: jeannineinsd

“they will need training and protective gear in dealing with the hazardous material, in my opinion.”

I pass by Skid Row here in L.A during the mornings and they clean up the streets TWICE a week, complete with HAZMAT suits.

The LAPD cordon off a 6 block radius so they could clean up. It’s effing gross from what my cop buds told me. They have tents alright (where they got the money to buy them is beyond me) but where they SH*t or piss-—is the core reason of the clean up.


15 posted on 05/02/2018 2:30:21 PM PDT by max americana (Fired libtard employees 9 consecutive times at every election since 08'. I hope all liberals die.)
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To: jeannineinsd

Maybe they should arrest these homeless people for trespassing, loitering, littering, or something.

Then make them clean up the camps.

The saddest part about this situation is that it has been allowed to grow and become so much worse, due to the liberal and sanctuary mindsets of those in charge in CA, IMHO.


16 posted on 05/02/2018 2:30:41 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: jeannineinsd

Anyone realize that the root cause of the problem still isn’t being addressed.


17 posted on 05/02/2018 2:31:04 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Democracy: The cliff's edge of Marxism)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

What the state needs to do is form a Homeless Hygiene Department. Shouldn’t cost more than another billion or so a year. Fortunately, money isn’t a problem in California.


18 posted on 05/02/2018 2:41:05 PM PDT by Spok ("What're you going to believe-me or your own eyes?" -Marx (Groucho))
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To: jeannineinsd

Have Caltrans workers train the homeless to do the cleanup. Then hire the homeless and fire the Catrans workers.


19 posted on 05/02/2018 2:43:24 PM PDT by stylin19a (Best.Election.of.All-Times.Ever.In.The.History.Of.Ever)
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To: Enterprise

20 posted on 05/02/2018 3:13:16 PM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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