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Plow Operators Object to GPS Tracking System
An anonymous reader writes "The Boston Globe is reporting on a dispute between private plowing contractors and the state highway department. The state has mandated all trucks to equip with GPS enabled cellphones for tracking. The drivers have refused, just in time for a big winter storm. The latest seems to be that they have reached a compromise (no details yet), but the dispute highlights the public safety versus employee privacy issue. Presumably plowing could be more efficient and possibly save lives during storms if the trucks could be tracked.. a good thing. Or is this simply a step closer to an Orwellian society, where the State knows where we all are?" This earlier story does a much better job of detailing their grievances - apparently it's about money as much as anything, with the GPS tracking system being only a secondary issue.
1) why the highway department wants them to have GPS
They want them to carry the GPS systems so they can "track their movements and record the work that they should be paid for" since they're paid "between $42 and $300 an hour."
2) why the contractors don't want to have it.
They don't want to carry them because of "the difficulty of operating the GPS phones while driving," and because if contractors don't "punch a code into the GPS phones and that if it is not done properly, the contractor won't get paid."
I, however, think the contractors don't want the GPS units because they'll no longer be able to slack off and milk the state. I mean, what do they have to hide. They are being paid by the state to do a job. Therefore, the state should have the right to track them and make sure they're doing exactly what they're being paid to do.
This isn't an orwellian society move. I think it's actually rather reasonable when you consider everything that they have here.
I've lived in a variety of areas where they have contractors for snow removal. In general it's not a very good arrangement in terms of getting the work done. And there is more than enough opportunity for the contractor to give the snow job to the State, City, County that is paying for it.
But contractors had balked, saying the phones were not proven reliable as an accounting system used for payment.
Nothing is mentioned about an invasion of privacy or an Orwellian allusion. Only us paranoid geeks brought this out.......we are from the government - we are here to help...
Indeed, this issue is occuring with greater frequency today than it was 5 years ago. My company does mobile data and part of the data we send is GPS location information. Much of the union and non-union labor (this isn't just an AFL/CIO issue) who drive a vehicle with a GPS installed don't like the idea. Until they find out why they have it.
A police department had GPSs installed in their vehicles as part of their computer dispatching system and the cops always grumbled that the chief could see where they were and that it wasn't right. Then one of the officers got shot on the job. He hit his panic button, the dispatcher (and every other cop on the city!) knew exactly where he was within 2 seconds. They got the bad guy (life in jail, what fun) and saved the one cop's life. Did they apso-positivly love GPS after that? Yeah, a lot.
And I can tell you similiar stories from the commercial sector, too. The point is that anyone will think it's intrusive until they see why there is a direct benefit to themselves as part of this system.
Consider this -- there are members of the Amateur Radio community that get excited by the prospect of sharing their position information on the internet. They can see a benefit.
Once you get beyond the "you're trying to screw me over" arguement, things get better and you just live with it. (As an aside, most union contracts specify that the company will dictate what equipment the employee will use, so there's not much to grieve about when you're driving a truck with a GPS in it).