Laundry workers say 'enough!'
Lung disease and needle pricks for $5.50 an hour
By Sharon
Black
Baltimore
On a back road in this city, important lines have been
drawn. On one side is a company that has projected sales this
year of $5.5 million and has contracts with some of the largest
area hospitals--Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland Medical
Center, Medstar Health and many more.
On the other side is a group of super-exploited workers who
have been subjected to some of the worst forms of exploitation,
abuse, racism and sexism.
While this battle could seem relatively small, it is keenly
watched by the many thousands of people in this city who are
paid little and respected even less.
The Up-To-Date Laundry workers have taken a daring step. On
April 23, a majority of the plant--over 150 workers--walked off
the job, officially calling a strike. They are demanding
representation by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and
Textile Employees.
The average wage for these workers is $5.50 an hour with few
benefits. Health insurance, which few can afford, costs $20 a
week for an individual and $70 a week for a family. In the
summer, the plant is unbearably hot. Workers are granted few
breaks and little access to water.
Health and safety violations are rampant. Workers come in
contact with
needles, blood and feces without adequate protection. Workers
who have been stuck by needles in the laundry have not been
offered the immediate medical intervention required by law to
treat possible HIV infection. Workers have not been given
hepatitis inoculations.
All these horrible conditions were described in detail at a
community forum on May 3 sponsored by the All- People's
Congress.
UNITE organizers and Up-To-Date workers described other
horrors. One worker told how an older woman who had worked for
many years began spitting up blood. Her lungs had been
destroyed by lint, for which the workers receive no protection.
Other women have had miscarriages from working long hours bent
over poorly designed machinery.
At a May 6 rally of several hundred workers and their
supporters, Kweisi Mfume, national president of the NAACP,
denounced management's use of racism.
Racism, sexism
divide and conquer
Two years ago during the first organizing drive, 80 percent
of the workers were African American and 20 percent were
Latino. The company fired 54 of the leaders. Over the next two
years they hired and bused Latino workers from Hyattsville to
the laundry in an attempt to divide and conquer. The bosses
paid the African American workers 50 cents less than the Latino
workers, saying that the Latino workers worked harder. On the
other hand, they harassed the Latino workers by threatening
deportation if they joined the union.
Women have been subjected to sexual advances from top-level
managers. Dozens of charges have been filed and the Maryland
Commission on Human Relations has issued findings verifying the
accuracy of the union's claims.
But all the company's attempts to divide the workers have
failed. Black, Latino and white have walked the picket line
together. Women and men have played important roles in keeping
this fight going.
The workers are taking great risks and showing great
courage. They are on strike without the benefit of a paycheck.
Many have young families. Some fear deportation, yet they are
staying strong. At the community forum they were saluted for
showing the way for all workers in Baltimore.
For information on how the support the Up-To-Date workers,
please contact the All-People's Congress at (410) 235-7040 or
stop by the picket line at 1221 Desoto Rd.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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