[privacy] 20 inspectors suspended over GPS

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/07/11/20_inspectors_suspended
_over_gps?mode=PF
 
20 inspectors suspended over GPS
Public safety chief metes out discipline
By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff  |  July 11, 2006

The Massachusetts public safety commissioner yesterday suspended 20 state
building and engineering inspectors for refusing to accept cellphones
equipped with global positioning systems.

Only two inspectors accepted the phones; another two were out on vacation
when Commissioner Thomas Gatzunis tried to distribute the phones, which
supervisors want to use to keep track of the inspectors during the work day.

``The act of insubordination leaves me with no choice but to impose
disciplinary measures, including the immediate suspension of those who
refused the phone," Gatzunis said.

Kelly Nantel, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, said
the cellphone policy ``is about accountability. ``If you're doing your job
well, there shouldn't be any concern with it. This allows the Department of
Public Safety to ensure that taxpayers' money is being spent in an
appropriate way."

The inspectors are responsible for overseeing construction, as well as the
maintenance of boilers, air tanks, and amusement rides. They were suspended
without pay for two days and were warned that if they do not take the phones
when they return to work tomorrow, they will face further disciplinary
action.

In the meantime, ``the available workforce is dramatically reduced" among
inspectors, Nantel said. ``The commissioner is putting together contingency
plans for the next several days. He's exploring what the options are, legal
and otherwise."

Officials said the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and
Scientists, the union that represents the inspectors, agreed to the
GPS-equipped phones last year. Under the February 2005 agreement, the
inspectors agreed to keep the phones on ``during all work hours," but not
during lunch or breaks. The only people with access to the data generated by
the phones will be the public safety commissioner and two managers, the
settlement says.

But one inspector who refused the phone said his union is grieving the
policy, which he called ``an invasion of privacy."

He said that the settlement with the union was never ratified by the union
members and that the policy was never formalized in writing.

...

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