District Council 37, the city's largest public employee union, today called on Governor Pataki and the New York State Department of Labor's Hazard Abatement Board to enact a "James E. Davis Memorial Workplace Violence Standard" in honor of the late City Council member.

It was a tragic irony that Council member Davis, in his last act in office, was at City Hall to introduce a DC 37-supported resolution calling on the NYS Department of Labor to enact a Workplace Violence Standard. The Standard would protect public employees from murder, rape, assault, verbal abuse and harassment on the job. Council member Davis was the chief sponsor of the resolution.

"The best and most fitting tribute to a man whose career was dedicated to ending violence - and who died tragically in his own workplace - is for Governor Pataki and the State of New York to enact a 'James E. Davis Memorial Workplace Violence Standard' in his honor," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. "I hope the Mayor and all Mr. Davis' City Council colleagues will support us in honoring this great crusader against violence by seeing that the standard he came to support that day is enacted."

On June 23, Council member Davis was among dozens of union leaders and members, safety and health advocates, and elected officials who spoke at a daylong New York State Hazard Abatement Board hearing in favor of a workplace violence standard to protect city and state workers. Ms. Roberts, DC 37 members who have been assaulted at work, and DC 37 local presidents representing workers in city social services, schools, public health and hospitals, juvenile justice facilities, parking enforcement, and parks, were among those who testified in support of the protective standard.

"Council member Davis went one step further, agreeing to sponsor a City Council resolution calling on New York State to put in place this badly-needed standard," Ms. Roberts said. "He was at City Hall on that tragic day to make sure this workplace violence resolution was introduced. He was a great friend to DC 37 and its members."

Ms. Roberts said, "DC 37 will work with public employee unions throughout New York City and New York State to press for passage of the 'James E. Davis Memorial Workplace Violence Standard' as a lasting tribute to a man who worked so hard in so many ways on behalf of all our members."

[Following is the City Council resolution Council member Davis was scheduled to introduce on the day he was murdered.]

Resolution calling upon the New York State Department of Labor ("NYSDOL") and the Hazard Abatement Board ("HAB") to promptly implement a meaningful and enforceable safety standard to prevent violence in the workplace.

By Council Member Davis

Whereas, Public sector workers of the City of New York continue to be victims of crime in the workplace, including murder, rape, assault, verbal abuse and harassment; because of hazardous working conditions and the absence of any systematic method for removing these dangers, workers and their families continue to suffer as a result of unnecessary and preventable incidents of violence at work; and

Whereas, Working conditions in many agencies of the City of New York are unsafe due to a number of factors, including lack of security; frequently working alone; an absence of policy on how to handle violent clients; poor reporting systems; inadequate or no alarm systems; and fear of retribution by management for reporting incidents; further, an uncertain legal definition as to what constitute workplace violence makes each incident a question of who is at fault, instead of a warning sign for prevention of a recognized occupational hazard; and

Whereas, Additionally, Management's claims that an incident was not work-related or that it was the victim's fault also contributes to the denial of salary and benefits for workers who are the victims of workplace violence, further resulting in the serious problem of under-reporting of incidents; and

Whereas, Previous steps to prevent workplace violence through collective bargaining, joint labor management committees, voluntary security policies of City employers, although resulting in some improvements at certain worksites, have generally failed to achieve an adequate provision of safety in New York City workplaces; assault, abuse and harassment continue and workers are routinely raped, traumatized and seriously injured while on the job; and
Whereas, Absent any specific safety standard to prevent workplace violence for public employees, 1.2 million public sector workers in New York State and hundreds of thousands in New York City are at the mercy of management who have the luxury of self-enforcement with no external authority to monitor their actions; reforms to this current system must be implemented including: centralizing the reporting of incidents, demanding remedies and, when appropriate, penalizing offender/employers accordingly; and

Whereas, Lacking a specific safety standard to prevent workplace violence, the employer and the unions representing the employees are in constant battle over numerous policies in multiple workplaces that change as frequently as management and administrations come and go; establishing a standard would go a long way toward clarifying for the employer as well as the employee and their union representatives, what the legal minimum is for preventing workplace violence, thereby making compliance easier and the provision of safety swifter for all parties involved; and

Whereas, While the current situation is terribly inadequate, a reasonable remedy is within reach; since the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau ("PESH") is currently responsible for safety enforcement in the workplace for public employees, a potential enforcement mechanism already exists; NYSDOL should promulgate a new safety standard to prevent workplace violence and to bring multiple agencies at thousands of worksites together under the same legal mandate and thereby remedy this serious occupational hazard that threatens the lives and livelihood of civil servants in New York City and throughout New York State; and

Whereas, Many unions are affected, with varying numbers of members who work for different agencies, each with their own level of commitment to preventing workplace violence; and workplace free from violence must be created for all workers through the promulgation of a safety standard; a standard will give unions with less numbers of workers and those in agencies that have shown no or only minimal commitment to providing a secure workplace, an equal chance of keeping their members safe from harm;
Currently, their well-being depends upon what safety provisions can be won at the bargaining table, at grievance hearings and through the work of a limited number of union health and safety staff; a standard would put the burden of safety where it belongs, on the employer; and

Whereas, Since the Triangle Shirtwaist fire at the beginning of the last century, New York City and New York State has had a proud bipartisan tradition of leading the country to safer workplaces and stronger and more effective worker protection measures and this legacy must be allowed to continue; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the New York City Council calls upon the New York State Department of Labor ("NYSDOL") and the Hazard Abatement Board ("HAB") to promptly implement a meaningful and enforceable safety standard to prevent violence in the workplace.