He was working in the Chicago Transit Authority’s Second Chance job-training program that aims to help ex-offenders and others with few job prospects get a start. And it seemed like a great opportunity when he was “handpicked” to move from sweeping L cars to scrubbing their exteriors.
Must have impressed the bosses, the man says he thought. Maybe his hard work was being recognized and he could be in line to get promoted to a permanent job with benefits.
But then he and others doing the exterior washing say the harsh cleaning solutions caused chemical burns on their hands, arms and elsewhere that required emergency medical care. And, when they reported that, asking for time away from working with the harsh chemicals, their CTA supervisor sent them home and referred them for disciplinary action, according to documents reviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times and interviews.
The approximately 240 people working in the program don’t get health insurance or paid sick time and make $15.80 an hour in the temporary jobs. Dorval Carter Jr., the CTA’s president, has touted Second Chance as “giving individuals with barriers to employment the opportunity to really turn their lives around and provide them with really good CTA union-paying jobs.”
The union contract with CTA rail workers, which includes the apprentices, bars Second Chance employees from working on graffiti removal on the outside of L cars. And an agency spokesman says they weren’t asked to remove graffiti.
But the union is backing the Second Chance workers’ claims that exterior wash crew supervisors lean heavily on them to scrub the outsides of L trains with a heavy-duty acid cleaner that carries warnings about the chances for severe burns and requires the use of protective gear from head to toe.
Pennie McCoach, president of Local 308 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, has filed a labor grievance with the CTA. She’s asking the transit agency to remove all apprentices from exterior wash duty, saying “they have not been trained by the training department to use such chemicals and to execute the task of exterior wash, which makes this task unsafe.” McCoach, who didn’t respond to interview requests, also is seeking back pay for Second Chance workers who were sent home after speaking up.
Many of the workers have been arrested in the past. So, for them, the Second Chance program can offer the chance to find a permanent job and a career path. But workers interviewed by the Sun-Times, including the man who spoke of suffering burns, say they are afraid that, even with their union’s support, complaining might hurt their chances of landing a permanent position before their 12-month apprenticeship ends.
And, according to their union, the CTA has a stricter disciplinary standard for the temporary workers than it does for the agency’s full-time, permanent employees in citing them for “gross misconduct / behavioral violation.” One such finding is enough to move to fire them, according to the union.
The apprentice who says he suffered burns — speaking on the condition he not be identified by name — says the burns started last month on his hands and arms and spread to his groin.
“No proper PPE, refused to let me work or place me somewhere else,” he said in a complaint May 20. “Bottom line I know I’m not working in safe condition.”
But he says he works anyway: “I can’t afford to be off work. I have a family to take care of.”
In May, the Sun-Times reported that about 14% of the temporary workers in the Second Chance program end up being hired as full-time, permanent CTA employees with the improved pay — for example, as much as $33.60 an hour, for full-time train cleaners — and benefits those jobs provide.
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Though the CTA says it doesn’t make Second Chance workers do graffiti removal, it acknowledges that, on its exterior wash crews, 10 of the 12 workers are apprentices, according to spokesman Manny Gonzales.
With a “rail car appearance coordinator” in charge and a full-time permanent cleaner, the crews typically clean 16 L cars each shift, Gonzales says. When fewer workers show up, he says, they work in smaller crews that clean fewer cars.
Last month, two apprentices on a crew scouring trains at the Howard Street terminal sought medical care for burns, records show. They say they were wearing the yellow zip-up jumpsuits and rubber gloves the CTA provided but that the chemicals still got through to their skin, causing pain and peeling.
One member of the crew wrote to his manager on May 2: “The burns I had received from working with the chemical soap was so great I couldn’t go on working that morning! I had shared with my coordinator on several occasions how I was affected by the chemicals and several more times leading up to this day. He was more concerned about our production than our welfare.”
He says he’d also wrapped himself in an extra layer of plastic between his clothes and his CTA-issue jumpsuit because the personal protective equipment “we’re given isn’t adequate. It’s a car wash protection suit, but it’s not enough to keep the chemicals off our body. It’s paper-thin.”
Records show their doctors advised them to temporarily stay away from the harsh cleaners that burned them, with an emergency room physician writing that a patient he saw is “allergic to chemicals at work, needs to be on light duty and avoid exposure to chemicals & irritants.”
The two Second Chance workers say their coordinator sent them home from work for refusing to rejoin their exterior wash crew, then referred them for an interview for possible disciplinary action. The reason the supervisor cited, according to reports submitted to CTA managers and ATU Local 308, was “Gross Misconduct / Behavioral Violation.”
A third crew member also was written up after reporting that he and others weren’t trained how to safely use the chemical cleaning products and not given the protective gear that CTA and federal safety officials are supposed to require.
“I don’t feel safe!!! doing exterior wash,” he wrote on May 20. “Also, I was never trained for exterior wash from a CTA Maintenance Instructor. I take my safety very seriously and I hope CTA do also…And again I am willing enabled to do the three jobs I was trained for — general cleaning, platform duties or yard work.”
Carter, who has been the CTA’s top official since 2015 and is Chicago’s highest salaried mayoral appointee, says in a foreword to the agency’s employee Safety Rule Book that “employees of the CTA must participate in identifying hazards in the workplace and in the operating environment. An employee who notes an unsafe condition or witnesses an unsafe action or behavior must report the hazard promptly to an immediate supervisor, manager or the Control Center and help correct the condition if it is safe to do so.”
Gonzales says no one has been disciplined for raising safety concerns. The agency spokesman says some Second Chance workers have been called in for questioning about possible violations, “but it was related to leaving the property” — for refusing to rejoin the crews the workers say were engaged in hazardous work that had caused them burns. “It is not the policy of the CTA to threaten discipline for reporting an injury. Employees are disciplined ONLY for violating CTA’s rules.”
He won’t say whether any of those workers ended up being disciplined for other reasons because, “To protect the rights of workers involved and the grievance process, CTA is unable to comment on pending claims.”
The bulk of the CTA apprentices sweep, mop and wipe down the insides of the system’s L cars or buses for what’s advertised as a 12-month stint, though the Sun-Times previously reported that 26% of the workers are kept on in those low-paying jobs far longer, some for more than three years before being hired for permanent jobs or let go.
Gonzales says a permanent cleaner is supposed to “remove exterior graffiti before turning over the railcar to the apprentice crew for additional cleaning. The primary general cleaning duties for apprentices include washing, scrubbing and waxing the interior and exteriors of railcars.”
To “pre-treat” dirty trains, the Second Chance workers are given a detergent, Seco 101, that’s designed to clean stainless-steel train cars without harming painted surfaces. The corrosive liquid cleaner is an acid blend that “causes severe skin burns and eye damage,” according to a safety data sheet the manufacturer published in accordance with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules. And the label on the cleaner warns: “Do not breathe mists. Wash area of contact with the skin or eyes thoroughly after handling. Wear protective gloves / protective clothing / eye protection / face protection.”
The CTA says the protective equipment it provides exterior wash crews includes “Respirators; Chemical Resistant Coverall (suit); Latex Gloves; Rubber Gloves; Rubber Boots; Arm Guard sleeves; Lens wipes, Sweatbands and Safety Goggles.”
But Second Chance workers say they haven’t been issued respirators and question the sizing and condition of the provided suits, gloves and boots.
Their training on the protective equipment, harmful chemicals and safety procedures happens during their first week of training, followed by a test, Gonzales says. But the workers say they might not start working with the exterior wash crews until months later
Diane Trainor, an environmental and occupational safety health expert, says it’s far better to provide specific training “once they know exactly what their job is going to be and what they’re going to be using at that job. When assigned to a particular job, you need the specific training associated with that job. That’s where potential exposures will come in, the need for protective equipment comes in, and that’s a function of the job itself.”
Gonzales says: “It is CTA’s policy that employees get appropriate training and are provided the appropriate PPE to perform their duties. If we determine something was not handled appropriately, we will take action.”
In 2022, ATU Local 308 filed a grievance similar to the new complaint. The union says it remains in arbitration. It also asked CTA officials to remove Second Chance workers from the exterior wash crews and the “use of harsh chemicals.” One of the two apprentices named in that filing later got a $3,600 worker compensation settlement for chemical burns on his right hand.
