Baltimore council addresses DPW employee safety concerns

The Baltimore City Council held a hearing on Thursday to discuss safety issues at the Department of Public Works (DPW). This hearing followed a recent report by Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming, which criticized the work environment for DPW employees over the past decade. Cumming's report revealed that only $15 million of the $641 million allocated to Baltimore through the American Rescue Plan was used for DPW. This funding shortfall has contributed to ongoing problems, such as broken HVAC systems in sanitation yards. Cumming stated that DPW staff have often been overlooked, leading to significant neglect and dangerous working conditions. Between 2019 and 2024, there were 1,627 reported injuries at DPW. This averages to nearly one injury per day, and there were six fatalities, including two in 2024. Cumming noted that better training could have prevented much of this suffering. She described the training sessions she attended as difficult to understand, emphasizing that language should be accessible to all employees. Thiru Vignarajah, a lawyer for the family of a DPW employee who died last August, pointed out that the report showed employees received little to no training in the years leading to the tragedy. Cumming stated that her negative views on the sanitation workers' union arose from interviews with over 130 DPW employees. While no new legislation was passed during the hearing, some council members praised DPW Director Khalil Zaied for his efforts to address these issues since he took over last fall. Zaied highlighted discussions with Mayor Brandon Scott about increasing sanitation workers' salaries, as many workers currently earn as little as $11 per hour without benefits.