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Demand Workers Have Safe Working Conditions
How would you feel if unbeknownst to you, you were exposed to dangerous toxins at work? What if your employer had known all along? These aren’t hypothetical questions at industrial laundries where many workers are not given the proper training and protective gear to deal safely with their exposure to toxins and solvents on towels and rags.
At a hearing before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mark Fragola testified that he learned first-hand how toxic his job was as a driver for Cintas Corp., when he contracted a serious fungus infection that required two major surgeries. Mark still lost his sense of smell and incurred substantial debts from his medical bills. He didn’t have to.
Workers like Mark deserve to work in a safe and healthy environment. It’s one important reason workers cite for wanting to form a union. In fact, workers at Cintas plants across the country are fighting for better on-the-job protections through their efforts to unionize. Unfortunately, Cintas is opposing workers' efforts to organize. The National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency charged with protecting certain worker rights, has issued a complaint alleging that Cintas committed multiple violations of federal labor laws, including firing workers for engaging in union organizing activities.
It may come as no surprise that Cintas, the nation’s top industrial laundry, has an atrocious environmental and health and safety record—having repeatedly been cited for violations of environmental laws and for more than 140 violations of OSHA standards. Now Cintas and other industrial laundry giants are lobbying for weakened regulations with the EPA that will leave laundry workers with even less protections for their safety and health. Until Cintas’ workers get their voice, they’ll need people like us to stand up with them for better working conditions.
Act Now!
EPA is considering a draft rule that would permanently exempt toxic-laden “shop towels”—chemical solvent rags—from federal hazardous and solid waste regulations. The rule has serious repercussions for workers, as well as the environment. If approved, the rule would enable industrial laundries to allow their workers to transport and launder shop towels full of solvents and other toxins, without proper training, handling, labeling and disposal requirements. It's time to tell the EPA that workers and the environment come first and to adopt meaningful protections for them. Make your voice heard today—comments must be received by April 9, 2004.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please put workers and the environment first
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Attention Docket ID Number RCRA-2003-0004
All Americans should be protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work. That is why I urge you to provide real protections for workers, the environment and communities and not to approve your proposed regulation for managing solvent-contaminated industrial wipes.
I am extremely concerned that your new draft regulations fail to protect frontline workers who are exposed to dangerous solvents on industrial wipes and towels. The solvents and toxins contained on wipes pose serious health risks, especially for the laundry workers and drivers who have to carry wet wipes in cloth bags and open containers without proper safeguards. If approved, the new regulations would enable industrial laundries to:
- Store and transport contaminated towels in cloth bags or other containers that fail to protect workers or prevent leaks.
- Neglect protective measures like adequate labeling of containers, training workers who handle wipes, or routine recordkeeping by facilities that generate the toxins.
- Send dirty towels for "washing" without first removing excess solvents, allowing additional tons of toxins to spread into local sewage plants, rivers and lakes.
The EPA should issue a revised proposal that takes the necessary precautions to protect workers and our natural resources. Please consider this an official comment. I understand that it may be placed on your public website.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
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