May Day protesters demand stronger
union laws, spotlight union-busting
Laundry workers and allies demand the right to unionize on May Day.
BY GABRIELE
HOLTERMANN
New York City saw several
rallies on May 1 as part
of the commemoration
of International Workers Day,
bringing attention to the labor
movement and demanding greater
unionization rights.
Also known as May Day, the
unoffi cial holiday was fi rst created
to honor the workers killed
or injured in the Haymarket Riots
in Chicago, a pivotal moment in
the American labor movement in
which workers protested for an
eight-hour work day.
At noon on this May 1, a coalition
of labor union allies, including
Laundry Workers Center, met
in lower Manhattan and marched
to the residence of Sergey Patrikeev
in Chinatown.
Patrikeev, owner of Liox Cleaners
and Wash Supply, fi red his
employees in February 2021 after
they attempted to form a union.
Mahoma Lopez with Laundry
Workers Centers compared the
laundromat industry to sweatshops
and said that many laundry
employees, mostly immigrant
women, are sexually harassed and
have to work under deplorable
working conditions. Even during
the COVID-19 pandemic, they
had to work without proper PPE.
“We heard testimony from
workers that they had to handle
clothes with blood, urine. All
kinds of fl uids with zero protection,
no protection at all,” Lopez
said.
Former Liox employee Cecilia
shared that she and her colleagues
had to wash up to 80 pounds of
laundry an hour without any
PHOTOS BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
breaks or proper ventilation and
weren’t paid a minimum salary.
When the workers decided to
form a union to improve their
working conditions, the company
closed and fi led for bankruptcy,
owing employees a reported $1.5
million.
“That’s why we’re here, fi ghting
for all the workers of this
company. We’re fi ghting for everybody
here on the First of May.
And it is crucial to create solidarity
to be stronger. So remember
that the system is nothing without
us, and we are the working class,”
Cecilia shared with the help of a
translator.
Lenard Morin, Chair of
Local 1070, offered solidarity
with the laundry workers and
demanded that they be reinstated
immediately.
“We will monitor the progress
of this campaign to make sure
that the rights of these women are
respected and that they are treated
with dignity, and we pledge
our commitment to support for
laundromat workers in any way
we can,” Morin announced.
The May Day rally in Union
Square brought out about 300
supporters of the labor movement,
where they were greeted
“Scabby the Rat” and an oversized
Jeff Bezos puppet that was
on prominent display.
In an interview with amNewYork
Metro, Charles Jenkins,
president of Coalition of Black
Trade Unionists, pointed out that
workers have always been essential
long before the COVID-19
pandemic.
“We’ve been saying for years
that we’ve been essential. If we
don’t use our labor, nothing in
this city gets done,” Jenkins said
and called for hazard pay for the
workers who kept the city moving
while putting their lives on the
line during the pandemic.
Jenkins, a TWU Local member
for 33 years, emphasized that
workers should have the right
to unionize because union membership
provides a gateway to a
better life.
“It has afforded me the opportunity
to send my kids to college
and have that middle class,” he
said.
He also praised the Amazon
workers in Bessemer, Alabama,
who unsuccessfully tried to
unionize. The warehouse workers
overwhelmingly voted against
joining the union after the ecommerce
Laundry workers and allies demand the right to unionize on
May Day.
giant used anti-union
tactics during the campaign.
“Their work is not in vain.
We understand this struggle is a
marathon. With so many of our
campaigns, we didn’t win the fi rst
time; we didn’t win the second
time,” Jenkins said and pointed
out that a union drive underway
at an Amazon warehouse on
Staten Island.
“So we are committed as union
brothers and sisters,” he added.
Standing next to an oversized
Jeff Bezos puppet with a sign
“Union-Buster-In-Chief” dangling
on its chest, Chris Smalls pointed
out that Amazon allegedly spent
$25 million to stop the Bessemer
warehouse from unionizing.
Smalls, who was fi red from
Amazon in March 2020 after he
had co-organized a work stoppage
at Amazon’s warehouse on
Staten Island in protest over a
lack of PPE amid the coronavirus
outbreak said that the workers in
Alabama “sparked a fuse across
the world,” while Amazon claims
that Smalls was fi red because he
didn’t adhere to social distancing
guidelines and received multiple
warnings.
“They Amazon spent money
union-busting for months on top
of months. We all watched and
covered it. But let me tell you this.
We start right here in New York
City. We already started. As we
speak, we are beginning our efforts
in Staten Island at my former
facility where I was fi red,” he announced
and said he has already
gathered numerous signatures
from warehouse workers.
Smalls pointed out that Amazon
is already employing unionbusting
efforts at the Staten Island
warehouse and urged people to
support his efforts.
“We’re going to win this one.
The chief union buster Jeff Bezos
ain’t going to beat us, right? He’s
not going to beat New York, right?
This is a union town, right?”
Smalls fi ercely asked the crowd
that responded with cheers.
Laundry workers and allies demand the right to unionize on
May Day.
18 May 6, 2021 Schneps Media