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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.