Louisville 619M Pres. Richard Street outlines proposed contract language on workplace violence prevention.

The GCIU's Committee on Workplace Violence presented draft contract language to delegates at the North American Conference of Commercial Unions (NACCU).

Louisville 619M Pres. Richard Street presented the draft on behalf of co-committee members Washington Court House 774S Pres. Brenda Eggleton and Dan Huziak of Toronto 100M.

Street said he became involved with the issue following the "very drastic event that happened in our local." On Sept. 14, 1989, an employee on disability leave due to mental illness walked into the Standard Gravure plant in Louisville, Ky., and opened fire with automatic rifles and pistols. Nine workers were killed, including the shooter who killed himself, and 12 people were injured.

Street noted that it took 10 years for the state government to take heed of union calls for workplace violence studies and training. A staunch supporter of the campaign was Joanie Jenkins, Kentucky state representative and daughter of past Local 619M Pres. Jim Jenkins.

The coalition working on the project "got good legislation in the Kentucky House of Representatives only to have it killed in the Senate," Street said. "Any government body that turns its back on working people demonstrates that there's really a problem in this country," he said.

Of the GCIU committee's draft language, Street said: "This is the meat that our public sector folks are not willing to give us. Please try to negotiate this into the contract. This puts us at the table on the issue. This has to be planned out. Once it happens, it's too late."

The draft language defines workplace violence as "physical acts, threatening behavior, threats of any kind, whether verbal or physical, or other similar conduct which may cause physical, emotional, or psychological harm."

The program includes four parts: awareness, intervention, response, and post-event stabilization.

Street said some of the keys to preventing workplace violence include: listening to co-workers and noticing any changes in their speech or behavior, including the apparent abuse of alcohol or drugs; reporting and documenting any unusual behavior or activities; implementing intervention programs for substance abuse and financial and legal assistance; encouraging and maintaining a respectful working atmosphere; and improving security to prevent entry by people who have no business in the plant.

Since assaults and violent acts were the second leading cause of U.S. workplace death in 2000 and since women are more likely to be the victims of domestic violence than men, Street said, it is also important to alert reception and security personnel of any restraining orders against spouses or others so they are prevented from entering the workplace.

Street noted that, although the general duty clause in the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to maintain a safe workplace, no employer has been prosecuted or found negligent related to cases of workplace violence.

However, he said, companies have been found liable for negligent supervision and some hiring practices. Possible management faults can include: no clear policy for reporting incidents of violence; failure to train management and supervisors on such a policy and how to deal with an incident report by an employee; ignoring reports of threats or violence; and failure to implement and maintain a security program. "So, these are ways to motivate an employer to initiate a program," he suggested.

Training components of a workplace violence prevention program need to include education on the recognition of early warning signs and crisis responses. "Most people don't have the skills or expertise to negotiate with someone who is holding hostages," he said, but there are steps that can be taken until a police team arrives, he said.

An important part of planning, Street said, is for plant management to provide local police with detailed, accurate, and up-to-date plans of the physical facility to assist police in coordinating their response to a crisis.

On post-stabilization, Street said, most states' workers compensation programs do not cover psychological trauma due to workplace violence. But the need is real, he said. "We need to get help for people to cope."