Hazard Hell at Howard

My return to Howard Shop has been eye-opening. Despite my a barrage of First Amendment rants on YouTube, the place has gotten more dangerous since I left in June. 

 

Brother Charles should be finally getting surgery done after falling in the graffiti removal mess in his motor blower pit. Fxxxing mismanagers laughed at the poor man who almost died at work. I will never forgive the demons for ignoring his constant warnings.

 

My Truck Shop Repairer partner and I had to scavenge for parts to safely complete a beam and sleet scraper assembly replacement. Don’t even ask about how we managed to install a drawbar head the day before! 

 

That gxddamn zip-tie freight elevator? Well, let's just say that someone wrote "Say yer prayers" on the inside wall. When our rodent neighbors get poisoned, they run into the bottom of it and die. Then the whole elevator shaft smells like death. Another sign that we are looked at as nothing more than wild beasts.

 

The last mismanager I complained to about needing air hammers, told me "we don't provide air hammers." 

 

Who the fxxx hires these idiots? They act like Safety Rule #66 doesn't exist ("The proper tools must be used in the performance of the job"). Our current morning manager tried her best to find one, but nothing. I give her credit for responding immediately and not interrogating me when I requested it.

NONE of the portable jacks worked. ALL THREE are barely functioning. Two need to be completely melted down-for scrap. 

That piece of shxt forklift has wheels that look like they were snacked on by giant mutant rats. 

We had to use old nuts and bolts torqued at 250 ft lbs to fasten the new beam. Free stock? I call it Freak Stock. It's a freak of nature if we have anything we need in those stupid plastic bins. 

 

Sidebar: Truck Inspectors, please service-request any deviation on the beam/shoe height gauge. Sleet scraper staffs are getting ripped off beams by the third rail because the beams are sliding down. Fxxx that "quarter bubble is OK" crap mismanagers tell you. The jackasses will do anything to not hold the inspection train—even if someone gets written up or dies, let alone a delay. 

 

A quarter bubble makes a whole inch near the end-casting! Strive to do your inspection by the Bulletin and replace no parts unless you have spare time to order them and do it safely. Almost every checklist item has its own bulletin. Get the updated bulletins from a Manager, Leader or Instructor.

 

If the manager hassles or threatens you about what I advised here, enter their unsafe directive on your report and notify me IMMEDIATELY! I have zero tolerance for tough-guy CTA mismanagers.

Please document ALL hazards, lack of equipment and tools and send to me. 

 

We cannot tolerate this abuse. I will protect your identity.

 
Ironically, 98th Shop is the safest of all shops I have visited so far. You know why? Workers like Brother Sidney "The Exterminator" speak up and aggressively condemn unsafe working conditions. It’s time to toughen up, coworkers. Someone is going to get hurt or killed if we don’t speak up!

Fxxxing cheap mismanagement don’t give a shxt about us or riders! 

I have been going public about these terrible work conditions and need your help in whatever manner you choose. The “union” officials will not back me up. They are too busy helping the CTA look good. 

Either we fight for what is right or we die on our knees.

Join my virtual union hall if you haven’t already signed up (even those who hate me are welcome and will be treated fairly). After I am sworn in January, the fire and brimstone will rain on the CTA's unsafe and illegal acts on us in the Shops.