In New Orleans, AFSCME city workers fight back against mistreatment and stalling

https://www.afscme.org/blog/in-new-orleans-afscme-city-workers-fight-back-against-mistreatment-and-stalling

By Pete Levine · Thursday, November 14, 2024

When Vashon Watson, a Department of Public Works (DPW) employee for the City of New Orleans and a member of AFSCME Local 2349 (Council 17) attempted to file a grievance with his supervisor for pairing him with an untrained new hire, his supervisor made his feelings about Watson’s concerns clear: he literally shredded the grievance presented to him by Watson’s AFSCME union representative.

Unfortunately for the supervisor, his actions were caught on tape. That is just one example of the way AFSCME city workers in New Orleans describe being mistreated, threatened and abused by management in the workplace.

Those incidents were detailed last month at a New Orleans City Council meeting.

Watson, who provided first-hand testimony of what he’s experienced at DPW, said at the meeting, “The abuse that the supervisors give us over there is ridiculous. They handle us like if we were slaves or in a jail.”

FULL story at link above.