Testimony of Sterling Roberson before the Committee on Civil Service and Labor : Workplace Safety Issues in New York City: Workplace Violence and Res. 189-2006 December 4, 2006

Dec 4, 2006 12:00 AM

Good morning.  I am Sterling Roberson, Director of the Department of School Safety for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which represents approximately 110,000 employees in New York City’s public schools.  Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the issue of workplace violence and its impact on UFT members and our students.

We strongly support Resolution 189 which calls for New York State to enact the Workplace violence Prevention bills vetoed by the Governor during the last legislative session.  These two bills are the Judi Scanlon bill and the Workplace Injury Accountability and Disclosure Bill.

Schools should be havens where educators can teach and children can learn.  Our members, who work so hard to teach, should not have to fear for their safety or the safety of their students while doing their jobs.  Students should not fear coming to school.

In 2000 the state enacted the Safe Schools against Violence in Education Act.

This law, known as SAVE, gives teachers the authority to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.  The law also mandates that school systems create school safety plans and codes of conduct.

The Union has always been committed to safety in the schools and this year we launched the SAFE SECURE SCHOOLS Initiative.   As part of this initiative we have conducted a massive outreach to our members citywide regarding the importance of reporting incidents and participating in safety programs at the school level. 

Safety and Health is everyone’s concern and the most effective programs are when labor and management collaborate.  We have strengthened our collaborative programs with the Department of Education’s Office of School Intervention and Development and we can already see some benefits as can our members.

But despite these activities more must be done to prevent workplace violence.  Regardless of whether the workplace violence is the result of an intruder, angry family member, irate parent, gang or a student - when there is an incident in a school, there is a victim and the SAVE legislation does not go far enough to protect our members from becoming victims of workplace violence. 

Here is an example of what happened during the week of November 27, 2006.

• At a Manhattan school a teacher was struck in the chest while trying to shield another student from getting punched.

• A teacher at a Bronx school was pushed and then punched by a student.

• A student at a Queens school threw a plastic object at a teacher hitting him in the back of the head.

• A teacher was kicked in the shoulder by one of the students engaged in a fight with other students at a Bronx junior high school.

• At a Queens high school a student intruder came into a classroom and loomed over a female student.

• A teacher injured his rib during a student fight at a Brooklyn vocational school.

• Five bomb threats were called into a Bronx high school.

Workplace health and safety standards prevent and reduce worker injuries and illnesses.  We need effective regulations that not only prevent workplace violence but also provide protection for victims of this violence.  Staff members victimized by violence are often neglected when returning to school.  Victims of workplace violence should receive the proper follow-up services and support and should not suffer the added stress of returning to a hazardous environment. 

Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to testify.