March 25, 2008  

(Washington, D.C.) – The family of deceased Waste Management, Inc. (WMI) mechanic Raul Figueroa from West Palm Beach, Florida, joined safety advocates, concerned local politicians and the Teamsters Union for the release of an investigative report that found serious safety problems at the solid waste giant at Teamsters Local 769 in North Miami, Florida.

Figueroa was the victim of a gruesome accident on January 3, 2008 at the North Broward Waste Management facility when a hydraulic arm on the truck malfunctioned, pinning him against the cab and severing his body in half. His family hopes to enact real change at WMI by partnering with the Teamsters Union and other concerned advocates and prevent Figueroa’s fate from befalling other workers in the sanitation industry.

“We hope that through our joint and continuous efforts with the Teamsters we can finally bring about regulations in this industry,” said Alina Miranda, widow of Raul Figueroa. “We hope that Waste Management finally realizes that their employees are not just numbers, but human beings and as such they pay attention to their basic needs, needs such as parts, tools or safety equipment that could be the difference between life and death.”

The National Commission of Inquiry into the Worker Health and Safety Crisis in the Solid Waste Industry launched an investigation into safety issues at WMI and found systemic problems within the company, characterizing WMI’s safety program as using an “archaic, misguided approach”. The commission conducted a series of in-depth interviews with solid waste drivers, mechanics and other workers at WMI. With the workers’ help, an anonymous questionnaire was created and distributed to hundreds of sanitation workers across the country and formed the foundation for the findings in this report.

The report found that 40 years after Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life in an effort to fight for civil and worker rights for striking sanitation workers in Memphis, the same issues that led to the strike remain prevalent in the industry even today. The questionnaire revealed that these workers still face very real threats to their health on a daily basis. Long hours and the handling of hazardous materials without proper safety equipment are part of their daily routine.

“When Memphis sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker died on February 1, 1968, it set in motion a series of events that saw an entire nation swept up in a battle for basic civil and worker rights,” said General President Jim Hoffa. “This report, ‘In Harm’s Way’ reveals that the safety issues that Dr. King died fighting for, and the 1968 strikers stood united against, still remain at Waste Management. It is our hope that through this report, we can bring about broad change in this industry and at this company so that working in sanitation is no longer one of the most dangerous jobs in this country.”

The members of the National Commission of Inquiry into the Worker Health and Safety Crisis in the Solid Waste Industry are Dr. Peter Orris, Professor and Associate Director of the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health of the University of Illinois School of Public Health, Reverend Nelson N. Johnson, Co-President of National Interfaith Worker Justice, Jose Bravo, Executive Director of the Just Transition Alliance and Lamont Byrd, Director of the Teamsters Union Safety and Health Department.

A copy of the report can be downloaded online at www.teamster.org.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Download the full investigative report on Waste Management's safety crisis.