Today I spoke with a woman from Bolivia.
She has a 10-year-old daughter still living there, while she works
as a housekeeper here in Washington. She's a member of the Hotel & Restaurant
Employees Union, Local 25, and with her union job she sent money to
her daughter every month until September's tragedy left her laid off
and stranded in a city whose hospitality industry has a heart that barely
beats. Now she can no longer send money to her daughter. In fact she
doesn't even have the money to pay for October's rent. She and I could
barely understand each other because of our language barrier, but I
could see the desolation in her eyes as they welled up with tears. She
told me that she doesn't understand why this is happening...that she
watches TV and still it doesn't make sense to her.
I know what she means, although my own story isn't nearly so poignant.
I'm not worried about my next meal or my heat being turned off...I'm
just trying to help a portion of over 4,000 Local 25 members who are.
Soon after September 11th, I became a union researcher-turned-social
worker. Since then I've been answering phone calls and receiving visits
all day, everyday, from desperate members who say they can no longer
afford their rent or mortgage. Others worry they won't be able to put
food on the table for their families. And some are just downright mad
that, after so many years of hard work, they have to borrow money from
family members or face landlords who threaten eviction or cut-off notices
from PEPCO, Verizon and Washington Gas.
Enter Labor's own Community Services Agency- United Way Agency inside
the Capitol Region. Within three weeks of the tragedy, Jacqueline Barnes
and Kathy McKirchy, and their team successfully appropriated over $140,000
to Local 25 members alone. After aiding 270 members, their subsidy had
run out and, as Barnes put it, the Agency is 'anticipating other contributions.'
Back at the Local 25 offices members continue to come in droves, in
need of financial assistance and food. Charities such as the Capital
Area Food Bank have provided food that my coworkers (the Research and
Organizing Departments) and I pick up and stack on the 6th floor of
our K St. office. We keep a list of those in need-our prioritization
process being one simple question: how many children do you have? Today
we had warmed hearts upon giving away food to a household containing
two women and seven children.
Meanwhile, some of us are stuck on the phone chatting with the authorities,
attempting to make time for our members whose bills are now three weeks
late, but we get little response. 'These bankers, landlords and utility
companies are the same people we've always dealt with,' said Local 25's
Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman at the union's most recent
membership meeting. 'They haven't changed as a result of the tragedy,
and we're going to have to force them to understand that they're going
to give relief to these members who are out of work by no fault of their
own.'
It's unfortunate that so many landlords and creditors have turned
down our requests for leniancy for workers since the tragedy. It's also
unfortunate that the story of these workers has oozed out into the mainstream
as slowly as molasses. But what is most unfortunate is that laid off
workers are receiving such a slap in the face in a city where they provide
the backbone for the entire tourism and hospitality industry, the sector
by which Washington brings in most of its funds.
Enter D.C. City Council. First issued was the disappointing B14-0363,
in which Council members agreed to give extensive aid to local businesses
for disaster relief while passing over workers. Local 25's Director
of Research, Henry Moses, gives perspective on this bill, which some
thought would aid business and workers alike. 'If there are no guests
in the hotels, no one gets called back from lay-off,' he said. 'So any
aid to the hotels and restaurants would not help the workers, because
in no way would this aid translate into more customers. All it did was
keep businesses afloat.'
In the midst of this critical moment, John Boardman and Metro Washington
Council AFL-CIO President Josh Williams went out to drum up support
for new legislation that unanimously passed in the Council on October
16. 'This is the first time this Council has ever voted unanimously
on any labor legislation,' Boardman noted at the membership meeting.
The bill, tediously titled 'Unemployment Compensation Terrorist Response
Temporary Amendment Act of 2001,' promises several hopeful amendments
to current unemployment insurance measures: No more one-week waiting
period; no D.C. taxes on unemployment checks; increasing the maximum
amount from $309 to $359 per week; a retrograde to September 9; and
a promise to provide 75 percent of wages were all part of the Bill-the
first in the country to legislate aid specifically to workers hurt by
the attacks. But Local 25 members and staff alike are still left wondering
how this will aid members who have to pay a rent or a mortgage that
surpasses what unemployment aid can give. Even before the tragedy, rents
were going up all around DC.
'We're going to have to make a plea to the public to call greater attention
to the people who were secondarily impacted by September 11th,' Henry
Moses said. 'People are saying that workers will be affected for the
next six months-they need to get through the winter-we need the general
public to be generous, and the creditors to be understanding.'
This nation we live in may not be the 'well of generosity' that the
mass media tends to show us. Firefighters, police officers, teachers,
and others highlighted as heroes during this tragedy are all working
people. And many are members of unions. I give thanks to all who have
aided us in our struggles thus far, but I believe it's time for our
political leaders and corporations to be generous to those who they
know to be the beating heart of this nation. But if they won't, they
will have to remember that unions have fought for justice since the
dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Workers are used to fighting and
they will fight some more...as Local 25's motto states: As Long As it
Takes.
Stay up to date with current legislation by visiting the council's
website, www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us,
or contact Rick Powell at the Local 25 office, (202) 737-2225. Volunteer
for the The Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington
Council, AFL-CIO by calling Kathy at (202) 857-0480. Local 25 is also
in need of donated food for their in-office food drive -call Kristen
at (202) 639-5699.
Kristen Arant has worked for Local 25 since September of 2000.
