Group rallies for safer conditions for Baltimore DPW workers in dangerous heat

BALTIMORE -- Community activists rallied around Baltimore's Department of Public Works employees who went to work on Wednesday with the temperature approaching 100 degrees.

Outside of the gates of the sanitation yard in Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood, the group demanded safer and healthier working conditions weeks after DPW worker Ronald Silver II died from a heat-related illness while on the job.

About a dozen people who identified as DPW employees stood among the activists and union representatives.

"City workers as a whole, all of us, I think we just need to be treated more fairly," DPW employee Terry Aruther said.

Demands for improvement

Last month, the Cherry Hill DPW facility was found to be operating without cooling centers and without offering water to its employees during sweltering conditions.

Before the rally, union president Dorothy Bryant said the union met with DPW's director to discuss a toxic environment as described by some employees and the Baltimore City's Inspector General's report that found "poor conditions" at several facilities. 

Some of the union's demands from Baltimore City include DPW developing a heat illness prevention plan among other programs and policies. 

"We are going to continue to work as partners to make sure those cultures do change," Bryant said. 

Beating the heat

Due to the high temperatures on Wednesday, DPW announced that all collections and solid waste operations started earlier than normal and ended early.

A Code Red Extreme Heat Alert was issued on Wednesday in Baltimore City.

If your trash or recycling was missed on Wednesday, DPW said to keep your bin at its collection point and call 311 to report it. Crews will be out this week for pickups.

DPW statement shared this statement on its extreme heat adjustments:

"The decision to adjust our solid waste operations was made in response to the Code Red initiation and the heat advisory issued by the National Weather Service. The forecast has already been elevated, with expected temperatures now reaching up to 109 degrees, prompting this precautionary posture."

"While this action is not a permanent benchmark for our operations, it is our responsibility to take this and other proactive steps to safeguard our staff. The effort by our outside firm to assess and review our standard policies and procedures is still underway and, once that assessment is complete, we will work with them, the union, and all other relevant stakeholders to outline our any necessary changes to our approach."

"In the meantime, we will continue to adjust as needed and take necessary precautions like today's announcement. We would like to underscore that there is no established federal or state regulation governing solid waste operations in extreme heat." 

"This requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Our leadership and management teams were in the field today, actively communicating with crews, and assessing the impact of the heat in real-time. If and when conditions become unsafe, we are fully prepared to suspend operations and will resume them when it is safe to do so." 

"Our top priority has always been the health and safety of our workers, and we are committed to making the necessary adjustments to protect them under these challenging conditions."