There's been much ado as of late regarding the city of Pittsburgh's ability to properly handle their responsibilities during a snowstorm. The mayor was off partying at Seven Springs for his birthday, he has some less than stellar folks in charge of various city departments & snow removal left a lot to be desired. A whole lot. Main roads such as Butler Street were still covered -- and quite dangerous -- more than 48 hours after the snow stopped falling. People were stuck in their homes, waiting for days to see a plow & salt truck. A man in Hazlewood actually died because paramedics couldn't get to his home due to lack of snow removal efforts. There were obviously some significant problems with the city's abilities to perform their duties & even a loss of life.
As locals reflect on this tragedy & question what the city is doing to improve, one thing truly stands out: The unbelievably foolish words of a union steward echo throughout the county, albeit hollowly. Pittsburgh Parking Authority meter readers were told to shovel snow & salt walks around the Authority’s garages. This seems reasonable enough, considering citizens were shoveling roads by hand since the city wasn’t plowing them. In reality, it’s completely reasonable but the union is treating it like a high crime. A steward from the meter reader’s union was quoted, making a complete ass of himself, in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.
It seems that shoveling snow is the job of a different union, so he feels his people shouldn’t have to do it. Sorry, but we pay taxes for the city to clear our roads of snow yet taxpayers are out there doing it themselves so it seems ridiculous to complain that any city worker should have been excused from pitching in during this overwhelming situation.
The guy actually had the nerve to whine that the meter readers haven’t been properly trained to shovel snow or handle bags of salt. What truly elevates his remarks to the level of utter jackassery is what followed. (That’s right, some actions & statements from public figures are so extraordinarily foolish that they require the coining of a new adverb for descriptive purposes). He complained that the meter readers were getting hurt due to this lack of training. This is a direct quote from the PG article:
"One's already down ... with an injury," he said, "and I've got more wounded people coming in."
Seriously? More wounded coming in? This isn’t a war zone, it’s snow shoveling. Surely these meter readers aren’t shipped in daily from some balmy warm weather climate to quickly read meters then fly back to the Keys. It’s impossible to believe that anyone who lives in Pittsburgh would be unfamiliar with a snow shovel or walkway ice melting compounds. As Pittsburghers, even small children are not only familiar but deft with snow removal. There are lots of kids under the age of 13 out there making things safe for their elderly neighbors or simply making a buck. There have been no reports of back injuries or other snow-related workers’ compensation claims amongst the youngsters. Apparently, they’re made of far heartier stock than Pittsburgh’s union meter readers. Perhaps the children could offer the union demonstrations or maybe the union could just hire people who have an iota of common sense.
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