Now that the QAR has been cancelled, Verizon has found a new way to harass technicians.They know the union cannot object to safety, so the company uses "safety" as the cover for surprise inspections. The true function of the "safety blitz" is stealth harassment
Technicians are threatened of dire consequences should they be caught not carrying tools they do not need for the job at hand. Of course it makes sense for technicians who drive a van to have as much gear as possible stored in the van, but for technicians who do not drive a company vehicle this policy makes no sense.
Example..technicians doing installation and repair work for a single customer must carry at every moment gloves that are exclusively used for pulling cable in large scale construction or cable maintenance work. It is impossible to do 99% of installation or repair work while wearing these gloves; you can't separate wires, turn screws, or do any task that requires fine motor coordination with these on. Yet they must be carried. Technicians who never work on telephone poles must carry a little yellow card with them at all times that details forbidden techniques for working on telephone poles. And so on..
At the same time, many tools and supplies that really are needed by the technician on a daily basis are not available and must be borrowed, shared or stolen from other technicians or they must be delivered to the job site wasting hours of time.
If Verizon cares so much about safety, why was no RF frequency safety training provided until 2016? Why are technicians not advised to slow down or provided with cooling techniques during severe heat advisories? RF exposure at cell sites is often above FCC limits and can cause cancer. Heatstroke can be fatal, unlike not having a pair of gloves or a yellow card.
I am all for safety, but it seems the true purpose of these surprise visits is to create an atmosphere of fear and high stress at all times in the work environment. But is stress healthy or safe? Is it safe to have technicians working insane hours of mandatory overtime, and then operating company vehicles on the streets? Not to mention driving home? Apparently that is a type of safety Verizon does not care about.
Finally why are technicians encouraged to rush through mandatory safety training so as not to reduce production?
Clearly Verizon cares more about production than safety. This is strange because if you consider it, we are a service company not an assembly line. We may only ever do one installation for a customer, but the work we do that day will create a lasting impression. Why can't we take the time to do a good job? Why do we want our technicians to be stressed out and tired 24/7? Does anyone do their best work in that state? Does anyone make the best impression on a customer in that state?
Considering these actions by the company, the focus on numbers to the detriment of quality, the focus on creating an atmosphere of fear,the false "concern" with safety, combined with the public pronouncements of our leadership, one can only conclude that the company no longer has an interest in providing good wireline service (including Fios) and is more interested in cutting costs, tormenting employees until they quit, and transforming the company into some other business. What exactly Verizon wants to become is unclear based on the constant mixed messages, but one thing is certainly clear...wireline including Fios needs to be managed by another company.