By Sara Benitez, Research Analyst, Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation, NCLR
At NCLR’s Annual Conference last week, Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D–MO), Chairman of the Black Congressional Caucus, told us that he recently spoke at a press conference where he said one word—“jobs.” At NCLR, we agree with Representative Cleaver and the millions of people across the country who believe our nation’s priority should be creating new jobs. And not just any jobs, but good jobs. Check out Mr. Cleaver's remarks below.
Our nation’s belief that all work is dignified and worthy of recognition and respect is codified in laws that protect our right to be paid a fair wage, to organize labor unions, and to stay safe on the job. Yet in today’s competitive economic climate, unscrupulous employers are bending and breaking those laws to save money, putting workers’ livelihoods—and their lives—at risk. Our analyses of the monthly jobs reports from the Department of Labor show that the fastest-growing sectors of the economy—restaurants, health care, and hospitality—employ large segments of the Latino workforce. This should be good news in light of the Hispanic unemployment rate, which was 11.3% in July. But the growth of low-wage industries is also cause for alarm. As we show in this month’s jobs report, The Price of Luxury: Latinos in the Accommodation Sector, and at a recent briefing on Capitol Hill, many workers in the hotel industry experience significant threats to their health and safety. Without policies to improve job quality in these industries, more of the Latino workforce will be relegated to jobs where they could become injured, ill, and unable to take care of their families.
At a time when workers need vigorous enforcement of our labor laws, budget constraints are threatening to undermine the already limited enforcement capacity of the Department of Labor. Cutting funding for the Department of Labor’s enforcement branches will mean less oversight of employers and put more workers at risk.
On July 15, NCLR held a briefing on Capitol Hill on the need for strong funding levels in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division, the branches of the U.S. Department of Labor that are responsible for enforcing core labor laws. At the briefing we highlighted personal accounts of Latino workers who had been injured or ill on the job. I shared the dramatic story of a young man who experienced threats to his health in nearly every workplace, including a job cleaning asbestos. Margarita Ramos, a room attendant at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and a spokesperson for the Hotel Workers Rising Campaign, gave a compelling personal testimony about injuring her knee while scrubbing bathroom floors and described the physical pain from carrying out tasks such as lifting 100-lb. mattresses to make hotel beds. In fact, several of her coworkers have to take pain medication every day to continue doing their jobs. An OSHA complaint filed by UNITE HERE has resulted in citations requiring Margarita’s employer to provide ergonomic housekeeping equipment such as long-handled mops and tools for tucking in sheets. Margarita reported that OSHA helped the room attendants make their jobs safer by getting their employer to pay attention and respond to the room attendants’ requests for new equipment. From Margarita’s perspective, “OSHA offers us solutions that mean the difference between healthy bodies and injured housekeepers.”
NCLR was joined by workers’ rights experts who presented on the broad impact of enforcement agencies. Peg Seminario, Director of Occupational Safety and Health at AFL-CIO, gave an overview of OSHA’s history and explained that more—not fewer—investigators are needed to keep up with the growth of the labor market. Esther Lopez, Director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union explained that in today’s economy “profits are counted by the cent, and good actors are challenged by bad actors. We need strong enforcement to send a message to other employers and change the behavior of whole sectors and industries.”
As demonstrated by Margarita’s story, without strong enforcement of labor laws workers have little power to make changes to their workplaces. This month’s Latino Employment Report, which focuses on Margarita’s industry, shows that Latinos are disproportionately represented in the hotel and accommodation sectors, where many workers face daily threats to their health and safety. The report provides policy recommendations to strengthen the capacity of the Department of Labor to enforce the nation’s labor laws.
Help NCLR stand up for workers’ rights and good jobs by joining our action network and forwarding this blog post. You can keep tabs on the latest policies and trends and their impact on Latino workers by reading and sharing these resources:
- This month’s Latino Employment Report focused on the accommodation industry, part of NCLR’s monthly series, Building a New Economy: The Monthly Latino Employment Report
- Stories from Latino workers in the low-wage labor market in We Needed the Work: Latino Worker Voices in the New Economy
- NCLR’s report on the impact of poor job quality on Latino workers in Fractures in the Foundation: The Latino Worker’s Experience in an Era of Declining Job Quality
- Information about the Hotel Workers Rising campaign