About 30% to 35% of city sanitation workers across the country are women, but there isn’t data on what portion of those women are under the new monitoring systems.
Some female workers who are being required to wear the devices have stopped taking bathroom breaks because they fear a supervisor could watch them via the tracker’s camera. Two women told Rachna that there are no toilets in their work area. Because the trackers alert supervisors if they leave their work area — and doing so could result in their salaries being docked — they have refrained from using the toilet during their 11-hour workday.
Another female worker, Bhanmati, said the tracker’s power button often switches off when her bangles — which many women wear to show they’re married — hit it throughout the day, and her supervisor has to ask her to turn it back on each time.
The trackers are raising concerns regarding health, privacy and security for all sanitation workers required to wear them.
“This has affected not only their health but their minds as well,” Rachna said, noting that after wearing the devices from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for their jobs, “the workers are now complaining of nausea, high blood pressure, severe headache and skin allergies. Also, they have accused the government of violating their privacy rights.”
Have you encountered invasive surveillance in your workplace? Share your story with me.
Until next week,
Sara
Sara Bondioli, editor, HuffPost U.S.
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