Gaslit: CWA Members Fight for a Safe Workplace

Earlier this month, CWA Local 7076 members working at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) in Albuquerque, N.M., escalated their fight for a safe working environment with a letter to Cabinet Secretary Gina DeBlassie. In early May, a dozen workers reported a gas smell to NMDOH management; however, no action was taken to investigate the source of the smell or secure the safety of the 250 workers who staff the facility. Instead, employees were told that a gas leak was “impossible.”

Frustrated by NMDOH management ignoring the gas smell, an anonymous union member made a call to the New Mexico Gas Company. On the morning of May 8, NMDOH was forced to shut down the building when gas company inspectors found that 6 of the 10 building furnaces were leaking gas.

Despite common knowledge about the gas leaks, management insisted that the building closure, which lasted four days, was for “rooftop repairs” and continued to deny a hazard to workers.

Weeks before the first gas leak, workers rang alarm bells when they breathed in toxic chemicals from a maintenance mishap. More than a dozen employees experienced symptoms such as vomiting or nausea. NMDOH said it would look into its safety procedures and then immediately ignored the same workers when they started reporting the smell of gas in the building. The agency reported to OSHA on this matter but presented a one-sided and biased report, which was filed without speaking to a single injured employee.

CWA members are awaiting a response from Cabinet Secretary DeBlassie. In a letter published in the Los Alamos Reporter, CWA Local 7076 President Megan Green says that members hope the Cabinet Secretary will take accountability for the situation and present a plan to move NMDOH toward a more safety-focused work environment.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.