Union palms down on scanners

For the workers at the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) - one of several agencies to recently receive &#8220hand scanners” to clock employees in and out - the new devices are more than just a handful, the high-tech tracking tools are downright invasive, said Ahmed Shakir, Secretary for Local 375, the workers' union.
&#8220It's a health issue, a privacy issue, and for the city, an economical issue,” Shakir said. &#8220If the city has an issue with keeping time, they should use a [swipe] card instead of the scanners.”
Two weeks ago, the union, which represents more than 600 employees at the DDC, filed a formal complaint with the Office of Collective Bargaining, saying that the agency can't replace all time sheets with the scanners. Local 375 has also filed an unfair labor practice against the City of New York through the Office of Labor Relations.
The DDC, which is based in Long Island City, installed the scanners over a month ago, and according to Shakir, the workers have become increasingly irritated, some turning up wearing surgical gloves to work in protest of the twice-daily scan.
Recently, the workers along with other City Unions, including the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, rallied twice outside of their L.I.C. office.
According to DDC employees, supervisors also quietly told their workers that the scanners would cause problems down the road higher up as well, since supervisors would not be able to be flexible about scheduling.
Workers also fear that the scanners will become some sort of &#8220Big Brother” device that could track their whereabouts throughout the workday.
However, Stu Loeser, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, said that the City has no intentions to using the scanners as anything more than high-tech timesheets.
&#8220There is nobody who is affected by the new installation who doesn't have to already file electronic timesheets,” Loeser said, adding that the City's Law Department has used the scanners for 11 years and between six and eight other city agencies have implemented the scanners. Next on the list will be the Department of Health, as part of &#8220City Time,” the citywide installation of the scanners at all agencies.
To clock in using the scanners now in question, employees type their four-digit ID code or swipe a card. The worker then places their palm on the scanner to test their &#8220hand geometry.”
Without the code or card, city officials said, the scanners could not be used for tracking.