Laundry Workers Rally For Greater Protections Against COVID

On Tuesday, September 29, 2020, workers at the Med-Apparel industrial laundry in Perth Amboy rallied with Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz. These essential workers are calling for greater protections against COVID-19 and a fair new union contract as they continue to perform difficult, dangerous jobs cleaning and processing medical linens for many area hospitals and nursing homes.  Med-Apparel is owned by Unitex.

During the current pandemic, these dedicated workers have cleaned patient bed linens, gowns, and other linens for hospitals and nursing homes that were often contaminated with COVID-19.  Instead of rewarding its Perth Amboy employees for their dedication and sacrifice, the company is demanding unreasonable concessions on retirement benefits and treating employee’s safety demands with callous indifference.  Recently, Unitex refused to disclose exactly how many employees of its Perth Amboy facility have contracted COVID-19.  In addition, despite a clear requirement to keep employees at least six feet apart whenever possible, according to Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 122, Unitex claims it has “not measured” the distance between employees.  Unitex is also under investigation by Region 22 of the National Labor Relations Board for alleged unfair labor practices. 

If worker's concerns are not addressed, Unitex may force employees to strike and create a health crisis at many area hospitals.  Workers and their union, the Laundry, Distribution & Food Service Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU, are calling on Unitex to do right by these hard-working essential employees.

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Saving Lives, Protecting Workers 

Please check the WEC website for upcoming episodes here. The next episode is Tuesday October 6 @ 10am.

September Highlights

On September 29, we were joined by Dave Newman, a former industrial hygienist for the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) and currently is a WEC industrial hygiene consultant. Dave also has his own consulting business, EOHS Associates LLC. Dave stressed that while it is impossible to make buildings “safe” during the COVID crisis, we can reduce the risk of contracting the virus by utilizing a number of “tools” such as proper physical distancing, masking, PPE, cleaning and disinfecting, contact tracing, and adequate ventilation. 

On September 22, we were joined by Dr. Anthony Broccoli, Co-Director of the Rutgers Climate Institute and Keith Adams’ Executive Director of NJ Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), who advised us on what climate impacts New Jersey is experiencing and should anticipate, as well as to offer tips on how we can prepare our families and communities for extreme weather events while minimizing risk to COVID. 

On September 15, we discussed Public Health during a Pandemic and were joined by Peter Dooley (MS, CIH, CSP) Safety and Health Senior Project Coordinator for National COSH and President of LaborSafe; George T. DeFerdinando, Jr., MD, MPH, FACP, Chair of the Princeton NJ Board of Health and on the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Local Boards of Health Association, and Rosanna Rodriguez, (Dominican, Latina, Female) Laundry Workers Center (LWC) founder, organizer, and key developer in LWC’s workplace justice and policy programs, training institute, and women’s leadership committee.

And on September 1, we addressed held our Labor Day Celebration & discussed the The Importance of Worker’s Voices During the Age of COVID, with Special Guest Elise Bryant, Executive Director of the Labor Heritage Foundation and President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. and by Columbia University economist Suresh Naidu

You can view more in-depth recaps from all past episodes here.

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