Workers launch historic Coalition of Injured Cintas Workers to demand safe conditions
Workers stepped up their fight for justice at Cintas, launching a new Coalition of Injured Cintas Workers and holding vigils across the country in commemoration of Eleazar Torres-Gomez’s death one year ago. The nationwide Coalition is comprised of former and current Cintas employees dedicated to cleaning up serious hazards—some potentially lethal—at the company’s 400 facilities.
The Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board led the rally that launched the Coalition outside the Bedford Park, Illinois facility, where the workers announced a new OSHA investigation into the same kind of dangers in their own plant that led to Mr. Torres Gomez’s death. Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) issued a statement in support of the workers: “Cintas has done only the bare minimum to protect its employees—continuing to view workplace safety upgrades as a threat to their bottom line.” Thanks to the nearly 90 workers, union staff, elected leaders, and community allies who turned out, despite the cold, to demand safer jobs at Cintas, and who helped make it a resounding success (see attached press coverage).
Workers also held vigils demanding safer jobs at ten Cintas locations across the country in Charlotte, NC; San Jose, CA; Whittier, CA; Chicago, IL; Gilroy, CA; Orlando, FL; Mobile, AL; Branford, CT; Central Islip, NY and Piscataway, NJ. Thank you to all the affiliates who turned out—often before dawn—for these historic actions!
After their vigil, nearly 30 UNITE HERE members at Cintas’s Whittier, California laundry showed that standing together can make their jobs safer when they presented management with a petition that voiced concern over hazards on the job. Whether outside the gates or inside their break rooms, Cintas employees at plants from California to New Jersey sent a clear message to management on March 6th that the hazards which killed Eleazar are still present and that they will keep fighting until they Make Cintas Safe!
You can get more information about the Coalition of Injured Cintas Workers and see a powerful video on Cintas’s safety problems on the new website: www.MakeCintasSafe.org.
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