January 2013
NEW YORK — Industrial laundry workers who wash linen for New York City’s hotels, hospitals and restaurants voted to ratify a new master contract among 14 laundries in the metropolitan area, reports the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United/Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The contract includes significant wage gains for laundry workers, a majority of whom are AfricanAmerican women and Latina immigrants, and will also grant them continued free employer-paid individual medical, dental and vision insurance and a pension, the union says. Laundry workers will be part of one multi-employer contract, which sets the standards for a majority of laundries in the New York metro area. Wilfredo Larancuent, regional manager of the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU, says he’s proud of what the group has accomplished. “This contract makes real improvements for laundry workers and their families and continues to raise standards for the industry.” Elected worker representatives from the laundries bargained the contract with employer representatives for more than a month. A strike vote was held at the laundries, but the contract was settled prior to the strike deadline. ALN
Volume 39, Number 1
By Richard Merli NEW YORK — Superstorm Sandy flooded and crippled numerous hospital and hotel laundry operations when it struck the Northeast in late October. Several laundry and linen operations were destroyed by saltwater flooding and storm surges, caused by winds of 85 to 90 miles per hour, while numerous other operations were knocked out of service for weeks by power outages, due to overhead electrical lines downed by fallen trees. A confluence of events, combining a tropical storm, a hurricane, and a high tide, caused by a full moon—some dubbed it the Perfect Storm—created a strong storm surge of 14 feet and left an estimated 102 people dead and caused an estimated $50 billion in property damage and lost business along the East Coast. On the east side of Manhattan, flood waters from the East River traveled 600 feet and destroyed the laundry and research facili-
The Manhattan skyline on the second night without power due to Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: ©iStockphoto/Andrew Cribb)
ties in Hunter College’s Brookdale Health Science Center on East 25th Street. Salt water also flooded the dormitory in which 660 residents lived. Many of the campus’ programs will be relocated to Hunter College’s main campus on East 68 Street in Manhattan, according to Jennifer Raab, the college president. The storm also shuttered the Veterans Administration (VA)
and heating systems and linen services,” says Thomas Johnson, a spokesman for the VA hospital in Manhattan. “It may be springtime before we can reopen again.” In Somers Point, N.J., a popular Jersey shore resort town, the Pier Four luxury hotel’s laundry was flooded and destroyed by more than three feet of ocean water. See SUPERSTORM on Page 19
SafeTRSA data shows laundries growing safer CHICAGO — For Toledo’s NuCentury Textile Services, 2012 began under horrible circumstances. Published reports indicate that, on Jan. 3 last year, an employee failed to turn off and lock a folder before servicing it. His clothes got caught in the machine, and his hand and forearm were injured. He later died from complications while recovering at home. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) cited NuCentury for several alleged safety violations and fined
it $40,000. NuCentury hired a safety consultant and took other steps to improve its safety program, prompting OSHA to lower the fine to $19,600. Despite best efforts, on-thejob accidents do occur in and around textile service facilities, and employees are injured or, on rare occasions, even killed. There are resources available to help an operator ensure his plant is being run safely, and among them is SafeTRSA, a program offered by the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA).
It provides safety training materials to TRSA members and measures the industry’s progress in implementing enhanced practices to reduce and eliminate occupational injuries and illnesses in plants and depots, according to Ken Koepper, director of marketing and public relations for the association. Success is quantified when TRSA administers its annual survey of its members’ occupational injury and illness data, he explains. “Such tracking over the past several years has prompted TRSA’s
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Eric Frederick cites four ways that a healthcare laundry can add value.
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Hospital on East 23th Street, Bellevue Hospital Center on East 27th Street, and New York University Langone Medical Center on East 32nd Street, all located on First Avenue, less than 1,000 feet from the East River. Three weeks later, the hospitals were still closed. “The East River rose and flooded the basement and first floor and knocked out our electrical
creation of industry-specific initiatives and resources to focus on the industry’s highest risk areas and those cited most frequently by OSHA.” This has resulted in TRSA members’ adoption of proven policies and procedures for maintaining equipment (lockout/tagout), handling soiled linen (especially bloodborne pathogens) and working in confined spaces, Koepper says. “The networking and informaSee SAFETY on Page 9
The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
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New York laundry workers ratify master labor contract
Hospital, hotel laundry, linen ops feel brunt of Superstorm Sandy
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Panel of Experts
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Meet the illustrious group of industry experts who will tackle our questions.
12/21/12 11:42 AM