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Inspectors Suspended Over Big Brother GPS Fears

BOSTON – In Massachusetts, 20 state building and engineer inspectors were suspended for refusing to take GPS-enabled cell phones from the public safety commissioner.

by Staff
July 19, 2006
1 min to read


BOSTON – In Massachusetts, 20 state building and engineer inspectors were suspended for refusing to take GPS-enabled cell phones from the public safety commissioner, the Boston Globe reported. Commission inspectors are primarily responsible for overlooking construction and other maintenance tasks. The workers were suspended without pay for two days and warned that if they do not take the phones when they return to work, they would face further corrective action. The grievances filed by inspectors claim that state officials have violated Massachusetts’ law and the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. Only two inspectors accepted the phones in this particular union, while more than 40 elevator inspectors accepted the phones in a different union. Boston’s school bus drivers and state snowplow contractors have also fought the installation of GPS devices, though such devices now exist in both places, the Globe reports.

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