Workers’ health, safety vs. corporate greed

Hector Rivas Photo: Rivas family

Hector Rivas, a mechanic for the Boston Public School buses and United Auto Workers (UAW) member, passed away on March 9. He was found unconscious at the Freeport Street yard of First Student, Inc. after inhaling carbon monoxide while starting the school buses on a cold winter morning.

First Student had been using gasoline-powered jump starters that are located in an enclosed service truck. For over two years UAW local 1569, mechanics union, had urged First Student to ventilate the trucks at a cost of between $25-40 a vehicle. Management refused!

This is just one example of the many safety violations committed by First Student, Inc. On April 18, another mechanic fell victim to their hazardous behavior. Miguel Camacho, Hector Rivas’ son-in-law, was injured on the job when a defective air lift struck him. First Student had illegally modified the air jack with chains instead of spending the additional money on a safer lift. The chains jammed as Camacho attempted to free them.

On Sept. 8, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited First Student with 12 charges of serious and willful violations of federal safety regulations. These charges came as a result of an aggressive campaign by the UAW and United Steelworkers 8751 School Bus Drivers local to demand OSHA take action. Among these charges is a meager $70,000 fine for willful negligence leading to the death of Hector Rivas.

The money collected from these fines will go into the federal treasury, not to the Rivas family. In cold and callous corporate form, the company has claimed that the tragedies were “the result of worker carelessness” and is contesting every charge.

The implications of these findings are alarming. Boston transports over 32,000 school children daily. The mechanics and bus drivers are operating in dangerous conditions. The community deserves safe and effective public services. The city must be made to provide a safe workplace for employees and a safe ride for children. The city is attempting to deny responsibility in the Rivas tragedy. However it is the city that owns the buses, all of the equipment and pays the employees. First Student just administers the business.

First Student won the management contract in 2003 by underbidding their competitors by $13 million. This has resulted in massive cuts that endanger the safe transportation of children and the working conditions of workers. These cuts have resulted in the death of Hector Rivas and the injury of Miguel Camacho.

Labor, community activists form Justice for Hector Rivas Committee

Thousands of workers across the country are killed and maimed at work every day. If First Student were a person that had locked Hector Rivas in an enclosed space exposing him to fatal levels of carbon monoxide, this person would be facing murder charges. Corporations must be held accountable. OSHA’s actions are not enough.

A slap-on-the-wrist fine of $70,000 for the fatal accident of a worker will not stop future tragedies. As long as corporate decision-making continues to be governed by “bottom line” profit motive, businesses will find it more “cost effective” to face possible nuisance fines than to pay to provide a safe environment for workers and communities.

The public good does not even enter into the equation. How ironic when speaking about school children. If these companies are not held accountable by being charged with criminal neglect and sentenced with jail time, they will continue to make decisions based on “the bottom line.”

Government has allowed this corporate injustice since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Only a movement of workers and their unions united with the communities can fight for real safety.

On Sept. 26, labor and community activists united with the Rivas and Camacho families to form the Committee for Justice for Hector Rivas. The committee includes representatives from the UAW, USW 8751, Painters District 35, the Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee, International Action Center, Women’s Fightback Network, Voices of Liberation and Boston city councilors Chuck Turner and Felix Arroyo.

The committee, under the leadership of the families, has declared its determination to bring out the truth regarding these tragedies in the face of a racist media white-out. The committee’s bilingual meetings have formulated an action plan including calling for an independent inquiry into Hector Rivas’ death and organizing broad outreach to labor and the community. The committee is working on multiple levels to help the family move forward from the horrible tragedies they have suffered.

On Oct. 7, Javier Ortiz, Rivas’ son, spoke at a rally of over 125 African-American community activists sponsored the Boston Workers Alliance held at Malcolm X Park in Roxbury. He summed up the committee’s mission when he appealed for unity of the African-American, Latin@ and working class white communities, stating: “What happened to my father can happen to your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters. Let’s unite to fight for justice for Hector Rivas and fight to prevent any future tragedies.”

The writer is co-director of Urban Roots, a dance performance collaborative, and a member of the Committee for Justice for Hector Rivas.

—Casandra Clark Mazariegos