Big Brother’ is boss

Newsday | March 13 2006
By BRANDON BAIN

When the Town of Babylon installed global positioning system technology in most of its fleet of 250 vehicles in January, officials touted it as a way to improve efficiency, particularly during emergencies such as snowstorms. However, the system also is being used to monitor worker behavior - a realization that has left town employees increasingly nervous.

One of a growing number of municipalities and corporations around the country using GPS to track workers, Babylon has become the local flash point in the debate over how to balance the desire to improve efficiency with the need to protect worker privacy.

Already, the use of GPS has resulted in the firing of police officers in New Jersey for sleeping on the job, and protest demonstrations by snowplow drivers in Massachusetts. Some national labor unions are so concerned they have tried to include language in bargaining contracts limiting the use of GPS.

In Babylon, the $65,000-a-year system was installed in mid-January in snowplows, dump trucks and public safety vehicles, among others. About a week later, three workers were caught and eventually disciplined - two for goofing off on town time and a supervisor for failing to report them.

"If you do something wrong, they're going to get you," one town snowplow driver said, glaring at the GPS device on his dashboard. Like most town workers contacted for this story, the driver asked not to be named because he feared retribution.

"They're tracking us like we're 5 years old ... I'm very on edge," the driver said. "We have no defense against this GPS."

For Town Supervisor Steve Bellone, GPS is a no-brainer.

"This is a global technology revolution that's occurring," Bellone said. "I can guarantee this will become standard equipment in government. It makes too much sense."

GPS technology, developed mainly for military use in the 1970s, recently became popular in the public sector because the ability to put GPS in cell phones made it more affordable. The technology is also available in many vehicles. Babylon is the first local municipality to employ the technology widely, but since its use became public last month the town has received inquiries from such entities as Smithtown's public safety department, the Hauppauge School District and the Nassau County Police Department, according to Babylon spokeswoman Vanessa Baird-Streeter.

GPS can pinpoint a worker's location minute-by-minute in real time, even showing how fast a vehicle is traveling and when it stops. Babylon officials sitting in their offices or at home can use computers linked to the system to keep an eye on workers.

Babylon bought the software from a California company called TeleNav, and Sprint Nextel supplies the hardware. The town bought the equipment for 99 cents and pays for annual service and maintenance.

Bellone said GPS has improved efficiency during snowstorms, increased worker productivity and saved money. When a complaint was made that a town snowplow had hit a resident's car, GPS records exonerated the driver by showing he had not been there.

Bellone said that town workers generally have been doing a good job and that Babylon does not use GPS specifically to catch lazy workers. But he acknowledged that there have been instances of GPS exposing workers who were not doing what they should have been.

One driver was called when the system showed he had left Babylon and was headed to Huntington; the driver said he was going home to get his wallet, something he had not reported to his supervisor. Another worker received a warning call when he exceeded a posted speed limit.

In the incident in which three workers were disciplined, a truck driver was caught taking excessive breaks at his house and making repeated trips to other unauthorized locations, according to documents obtained by Newsday. The driver admitted to theft of services and was demoted to a laborer, barred from earning overtime and suspended without pay for 30 days. Another worker who occasionally joined him, and their supervisor who failed to report them, were docked three days' pay each.

"If they are not doing their job, they are hurting the town," Bellone said. "I'm not running a day care."

One snowplow operator who gave his name as Mike said he supported GPS tracking.

"There are people who would park at a dead end and not shovel any snow. That's why they put in these things," he said, adding that he would log his interview with a reporter to account for the time.

But GPS has created stress among some town workers.

"I'm sure there are a lot of guys who are unhappy with it," said George Leavey, a truck driver. "Some feel like they've been here for 20 years and now this is what you get. It's a trust thing."
The use of GPS has created controversy around the nation.

In 2001, Clinton Township in New Jersey secretly installed GPS on police cars and caught five officers loafing while logs showed they were on patrol. Four pleaded guilty and were fired and banned from working in New Jersey law enforcement. In 2003, snowplow drivers in Massachusetts staged a demonstration after the state required them to carry GPS-enabled cell phones. Washington state garbage collectors protested the installation of the devices in their trucks in 2004.

After workers at United Parcel Service objected to being tracked, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters succeeded in including language in some labor contracts that would prevent companies from abusing the technology or using it to discipline workers unfairly.

"As this technology is becoming more common it will become a future issue in negotiations for future contracts on every level," said Galen Munroe, spokesman at the union's national headquarters.

Members of Teamsters Local 237, which represents Babylon town workers, are expected to vote in the next few weeks on a five-year contract that does not include any language limiting how the town uses GPS technology to monitor its workers.

"Big Brother is watching," said Richard Hendershot, vice president of Local 237. "I wish they didn't have it from a business standpoint, but from an efficiency standpoint the town has the right to do it."

That doesn't mean workers have embraced GPS.

"We're being watched like planes in the sky," said one jittery dump truck driver, nervously looking up and down the street as he paused during a job.

He talked for a few minutes before abruptly pulling away.

"Got to go," he said. "The GPS is watching."

GPS on the move nationwide

Staten Island: Ferries began using devices after the fatal crash of the Andrew J. Barberi in 2003.

Upstate and New England: Utility giant National Grid installed GPS in its trucks in 2002.

Clinton Township, N.J.: Police Internal Affairs installed receivers in their cars in 2001, netted five officers loitering during meals or hanging out in parking lots.

Los Angeles: Police will test a gadget that, when installed in the grill of a cruiser, launches a GPS receiver at a suspect's fleeing car, reducing the need for pursuits.

Philadelphia: Belt-mounted units monitor pretrial defendants and probationers.

Nationwide: Teamsters union negotiated in 2004 to bar UPS from using GPS data in evaluations.

HOW GPS WORKS

It was born as a navigation tool for the military, but today it is much more: a system that can track virtually any car, ship, plane, person or object on Earth. In 1994, the Pentagon finished its 24-satellite global positioning system. Initially used to guide U.S. forces, this network later was opened up to civilians. The satellites, each about the height of a house, can triangulate the location and speed of a receiver small enough to fit in a pocket. These receivers can be fitted to vehicles or even a person's belt. Here's how Babylon Town applied the technology to 250 of its vehicles.

1. GPS SATELLITE

Each satellite, orbiting 12,000 miles above Earth, intermittently sends

signals broadcasting its location and current time.

2. RECEIVER

The GPS signals, traveling at the speed of light, arrive at a receiver (in Babylon's case, inside a cell phone of a vehicle). Using the data, the receiver calculates how far away the satellites are and, in turn, triangulates its own position.

3. MONITOR

Each GPS receiver broadcasts its location, and a central computer displays them as blue dots on a map. A dot turns red when the vehicle stops for a prolonged period. Clicking on a dot displays the vehicle's speed and position. Officials access the system using a Web browser at their offices or homes.

Last modified March 13, 2006