Families of DPW workers killed on job demand justice

Speaking at a gathering in front of City Hall is Blanca Tapahuasco. She is joined by family members of Ronald Silver II, who died on the job while working for the Department of Public Works. Kevin Richardson/Staff

Shantae Carroll is demanding justice for her brother-in-law Timothy Cartwell, a Baltimore Department of Public Works solid waste worker who was killed on the job earlier this month.

Carroll and the tearful family of Ronald Silver II, another DPW employee who died in August, were among several local activists who rallied in front of City Hall on Friday to highlight what they say are dangerous working conditions in the DPW.

“We are asking for everyone to respect these men and these women that do a job every single day for us, the people of Baltimore,” Carroll said. “The job that no one wants to do. They are the ones that deserve the high-amount paid. I think they are the ones who deserve to be lifted up and to be respected at the highest level of respect that can be given because they put their lives on the line.”

“My brother-in-law was not just a trashman,” she said. “My brother-in-law was a man of courage, of good deed, of love, of support. He was kind. He was gentle.”

Cartwell, 60, was killed on Nov. 8 when he was trapped between a garbage truck and a wooden light pole while picking up trash in an alleyway of 1800 Baker Street in West Baltimore. Maryland’s Occupational Safety and Health agency has opened its own investigation into the incident.

In August, Silver, 36, died from a heat-related illness while on the job. Conn Maciel Carey, a national law firm with an office in Washington, D.C., was hired by the city to conduct a review of work conditions within DPW following the death, Mayor Brandon Scott announced in August.The Baltimore City Council held a tense hearing on Aug. 22 over the working conditions inside DPW following the incident with Silver.

In July, the city’s inspector general revealed that DPW facilities and trucks had broken air conditioning and did not provide enough water, ice and fans to workers. In June, DPW issued a hiatus on trash and recycling collection during extreme heat.

Attorney Thiru Vignarajah, who ran for Baltimore City mayor in 2020, is representing the Silver family and the family of Donald Savoy, another DPW worker killed on the job in 2020. He said these families “don’t need lawyers but leaders” to bring meaningful change to worker safety.

“This is becoming a little too commonplace in our city,” Vignarajah said Friday at the City Hall rally. “The fact that we have spent the last few months at one press conference after another commiserating and being forced to cry on one family after another. These aren’t victims in East Baltimore of gang violence. These are victims of our own agencies’ failures. It is the definition of a preventable, needless death.”

Lawrence Bell, who served on the city council from 1987 until 1995, said at Friday’s rally that it was ironic Dr. Martin Luther King traveled to Memphis in 1968 because sanitation workers were not being treated fairly and were on strike. Now, 56 years later, those types of workers are dealing with the same problems, he said.

“I just don’t think we put enough focus on the little people,” Bell said “We need to listen to them more.”

Activists Linda Batts, Marvin Cheatham, Sean Simms and Blanco Tapahuasco also attended Friday’s rally. The group spoke about Trina Cunningham, a DPW worker who was killed on the job in 2019 after falling through a grated walkway.

Officials with the Baltimore Department of Public Works could not be reached for comment.

Baltimore Sun reporters Dan Belson and Dillon Mullan contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at [e-mail], on X as @ToddKarpovich.