Guest Blogger: Use Safeline
Guest blog by Adrian Hender The CTA is fond of saying, “Safety is our number one priority,” but employees know this is far from what is experienced at the ground level. Defective equipment is routinely overlooked by management, switch workers, supervisors, and operators for the sake of maintaining the status quo. But who does the status quo serve? As workers, we deserve to be issued functional equipment that allows us to perform our jobs safely. When defective equipment contributes to mistakes, management is quick to point out that the defect was “never reported.” For operators, this falls under the category of “preparing our train for service,” where we are expected to catch every defect, every time. The buck eventually stops here. But operators know that reporting defects to a supervisor can often be a dead end. Supervisors are under pressure to maintain service intervals despite limited manpower and half-functioning equipment. In an effort to avoid creating bad blood, de...
