Our Perspective
Workers on the
Front Lines Need Our
Support During Crisis
By Stuart Appelbaum, President
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
Twitter: @sappelbaum
During this unprecedented public health
crisis, working men and women are on
the front lines in the battle to keep New
Yorkers safe and supplied, and to slow down the
spread of the Coronavirus; so our health care professionals can keep
the situation from spiraling out of control.
RWDSU members in New York – including those at pharmacies
and grocery stores – have an incredibly important role during these
unprecedented times. Fortunately for them, they have a union voice,
and it’s a voice we are using to ensure their workplaces are as safe as
possible for workers as well as the general public. Workers need to be
provided with the proper protective equipment and sanitizer, clean
workplaces, and enough space or protective barriers to make workers
safer. Workers also need proper security on hand to control crowds
and keep workplaces safe.
For other retail workers, we need to protect income as stores close.
The economic disruption in their lives is going to be massive, and we
need to ensure that they aren’t missing paychecks as this pandemic
drags on.
The general public should be thankful for the heroic efforts of these
brave workers who are still doing their job amidst this unprecedented
crisis. And, we need to do our part to keep them healthy; wash hands
constantly, use sanitizer, and keep safe distance from others and
workers as much as is possible. We need to address the growing
childcare needs for service workers who don't have the option of
working from home.
We also need to give stores time to receive deliveries and re-stock
shelves, and we must not panic to a point that we are adding to the
stress and chaos in stores.
At the same time, it’s important to be mindful of the impact this is
going to have on all workers. For non-union workers, without a voice
on the job and without contract protections and benefits, this is an
even scarier time, since they are depending solely upon management
to keep their workplaces safe. And for all workers, we are entering an
economically precarious time, the likes of which we haven’t seen or
even imagined.
The goal of any recovery action and legislation needs to be simple:
no worker should suffer loss of income because of this pandemic,
including those who aren’t sick or caring for the ill. Any bailouts to
corporations needs to be tied to job retention guarantees. There should
not just be a bailout for corporate executives; any bailout needs to help
everybody from the ground up – or our workers, communities, and our
economy will be unable to recover. We cannot leave any worker behind
when it comes to paid time off legislation at the
federal and state level, and we must include
undocumented workers at any size of business.
As we rebuild our economy and our state,
we can leave no one behind. We will only have
one chance to get this right.
www.rwdsu.org
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,34 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020 BTR
New York City fabric company
commits to making one million
masks for local hospitals
Tailor Dara Lamb sporting one of the masks. Photos courtesy of Falconer Agency
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
After The New York Times posted
an article stating how vital masks
are amid the coronavirus outbreak, a
New York City-based fabric company
grabbed their sewing machines and
got to work.
Gladson Ltd., a luxury fabric merchant
who supplies to companies such
as Paul Smith, Gucci, Paul Stuart, and
Stella McCartney, started by consulting
with Dr. Lauren Streicher about
the cloth specifi cations for masks, including
grade and weight. With the
information in hand, Gladson began
its new mission to make one million
masks for local hospitals.
After searching through their
New Jersey warehouse for cotton,
Gladson then began to reach out to
their tailors and asked if they would
be willing to make masks for the public.
The company then began to send
out cotton to their tailors, including
Dara Lamb, or Dara Lamb Atelier
New York, so the tailors could start
putting together the masks.
“As a life-long New Yorker, I chose
to make the fi nest custom clothing for
women right here, because I wanted
to support our local labor force and
skilled artisans,” said Lamb. “I am
glad to know these skills we’ve preserved
can now be redeployed to help
in this crisis.”
Once the masks are made, Gladson
will work on the next steps to getting
the masks sent to local hospitals.
“COVID-19 has left us in these
times of uncertainty feeling frustrated
and hopeless and it is further
highlighted by the volatility of the
market and the impact on our industry,”
said Guy Milinazzo, Executive
Vice President, Gladson NY. “I
am grateful to customers like Dara
Lamb (bespoke womenswear tailor
in NYC) and Marc Streisand (Mark
Allen clothiers in Providence, R.I.)
who have both contacted Gladson
with the idea to help the people on the
front lines in the medical fi eld.”
“I have a daughter who is a nurse,
so this is close to home for me. With
these efforts afoot, I believe we will
persevere. Side note: it feels good to
help in any small way we can.” Milinazzo
added.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They
should be addressed care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero,
Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter, 3604 E. Tremont
Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.
com. All letters, including those submitted via e-mail,
MUST be signed and with a verifi able address and telephone
number included. Note that the address and telephone number
will NOT be published and the name will be published
or withheld upon request. No unsigned letters can be accepted
for publication. The editor reserves the right to edit
all submissions.
link
link
/www.rwdsu.org
link
/www.rwdsu.org