Angelica Workers set 'Cinco de Mayo' Strike Deadline (CA hospital laundry)

[struggle4progress]

Saturday April 2, 6:50 pm ET
- UNITE HERE Workers in Los Angeles Pledge to Honor Picket Lines; 120 Southern California Hospitals Would be Affected


LOS ANGELES, April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, worker representatives from Angelica plants throughout the nation met with other Angelica workers in plants throughout Southern California. They asked the Southern California workers to pledge to honor their picket lines and not go to work if they need to call a strike in another plant. Nearly 70% of workers from all plants signed the pledge-in four of the six plants, more than 80% of workers pledged to not cross a picket line at their shop.
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All of these low income, mostly immigrant workers are employed by Angelica Textile Services, a little known company that cleans soiled linens for hospitals and other clients. Angelica Textiles clean 50 percent of the hospital linen in California. A strike could have a major impact on health care in the area

"We are all suffering from Angelica's bad management, and the only way to make a difference is to work together," says LA worker Francisca Marquez. "It would be hard on my family for me to respect a picket line, and it would be bad for LA's hospitals, but the way that Angelica is fighting us on the changes we are trying to make, we may not have a choice. That is why I signed the pledge saying that if my brothers and sisters strike, I will honor the picket line and not go to work at the plant."

Their work is difficult and dangerous-soiled hospital linens are often bloody or covered in excrement, and can contain needles, scalpels and other dangerous instruments. Workers came together over the past few days to discuss strategies for improving working conditions. <snip>

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050402/nysa025.html?.v=1

[meganmonkey]

1. Good for them! This is a HORRIBLE company

Google there name and you get website after website of horror stories of these people working for next to nothing, in dangerous conditions, poorly trained, not receiving the immunizations the company is supposed to provide...It's terrible.

Here's a website run by employees:
http://www.thedirtylaundry.org/index.asp

There is a lot of info at the site. Here's an excerpt:

Disease Exposure at Angelica
Health care laundry jobs are particularly dangerous because they expose workers to potentially infectious body fluids that could contain HIV or hepatitis.

The volume and pace of work in a laundry-sorting operation is comparable to a factory assembly line. In one shift, an individual laundry worker will handle around 10,000 separate pieces of soiled linen such as gowns, pads, sheets, diapers, and towels.
When a laundry worker is stuck by a needle or cut by a surgical instrument that is wrapped up in the soiled linen, the physician who provides follow-up care has no information about the source of the contaminated sharp beyond its hospital of origin. That means that, unlike for other healthcare workers, there is no way to assess the risk of transmission of an infectious disease. The patient on whom the sharp was used is unknown. When a healthcare worker in a hospital is stuck by a needle, the source individual can be tested, and their health status can be used to determine what preventive measures must be taken to protect the healthcare worker. When a laundry worker is stuck or cut by a contaminated sharp, they have to rely on hope and prayers, since the necessary information is not available.
Many Angelica workers are immigrants and understand little or no English, with limited access to health care knowledge that could protect them on the job.

[struggle4progress]

3. Thanks for this important link!

[Rose Siding]

2. "This isn't ordinary laundry we're handling."

"There's a lot of pressure to work fast, the bosses treat us badly, and frankly, we need more money," said Francisco Munoz, a 24-year veteran who earns $8.15 an hour loading sheets into giant rollers.

Other workers complained of a shortage of proper gloves and masks for work in the receiving area, where sheets sometimes come sodden with blood.

"Last week, I found two needles," said Heliodoro Garcia, who has worked at Angelica for 16 years and earns $8.55 an hour. "This isn't ordinary laundry we're handling."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-laundry2apr02,1,5025609.story?coll=la-headlines-business

Si se puede

[struggle4progress]

4. Angelica Corp (AGL)

<snip> Stephen O'Hara, 49
Pres, Chief Exec. Officer, Director
Pay $ 233.00K <snip>

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=AGL

Betcha CEO'Hara don't touch no bloody shitty sheets nor get hisself stuck with no needles