Humberto
Janitor at Safeway stores in the Bay Area
For the past six months, Humberto has worked for a janitorial subcontracting company at several different Safeway stores in the East Bay. Humberto is responsible for cleaning, sweeping, mopping, and polishing the supermarket floors, Deli and Butcher counters, break rooms, offices, and bathrooms in the supermarkets.
As a young man, Humberto is eager to work hard and save money from his job for the future. But the strong cleaning chemicals that are used in the Safeway stores are causing problems with his health. Each shift, Humberto must use the floor stripper, a machine that deep-cleans and strips wax from the supermarket floor with mix of strong cleaning chemicals and hot water. Every time he uses the stripper, Humberto’s nose starts to bleed from inhaling the chemical fumes, his body feels chilled and breaks out in a cold sweat, and his hands and eyes feel itchy and burned. He only feels better once he moves away from the machine for several minutes.
In addition to experiencing these health problems, Humberto is also grappling with a lack of safety training and equipment in the supermarkets. In his six months of work, Humberto never been given any training on how to properly use the cleaning chemicals, and managers have not provided him with any gloves, face masks, googles, or other protective equipment. To protect himself, he purchases thin latex gloves at drugstores, storing them in his car to bring to work.
Humberto is very concerned about the strength and toxicity of the chemicals that are causing his health problems, and so he is organizing with his coworkers to negotiate a new union contract that will improve the health and safety conditions. Humberto hopes that Safeway and other supermarkets will agree to adopt gentler, more environmentally-friendly cleaning chemicals, and better safety equipment and training.
In the meantime, Humberto has no choice but to try to be careful when interacting with the chemicals at the supermarket. He recently saw a doctor, who confirmed that the nosebleeds are a reaction to the stripper cleaning chemicals and recommended that Humberto stop using the machine altogether. But since it is a required part of his job, Humberto says he cannot.
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Martha
Janitor at Safeway store in the Sacramento area
Martha has worked as a janitor at Safeway stores for the past three years. She works the overnight shift from midnight until 7 am five days a week, working one additional day at a different store. Each shift, Martha cleans, sweeps, mops, and polishes the supermarket floors, Deli and Butcher counters, break rooms, offices, and bathrooms by herself. Although it is hard work, Martha stresses that she enjoys and takes pride in her job.
Unfortunately, Martha is experiencing health problems as a result of her contact with the chemicals she uses to clean the supermarket. Using only thin latex gloves as protective equipment, Martha mixes strong cleaning chemicals with hot water to mop the floor and operate the floor stripper, a machine that deep-cleans and strips wax from the supermarket floor. When using these chemicals, Martha’s sinuses become irritated, and her nose starts to run and itch. She also often develops a headache, and her eyes water.
Furthermore, about one month ago, Martha developed a red, itchy rash on the skin all over her body while using a cleaning chemical called “Spectrum,” which is used to scrub off difficult-to-clean stains and spots. When she developed the rash, she consulted a doctor, who confirmed that the rash was a reaction to the cleaning chemicals Martha is using at Safeway. But when she returned to work and reported this to her manager, he did not provide any alternatives for her to clean with. Today, Martha continues to use “Spectrum” to clean every night, and suffers prickly, itchy sensation on her skin when she does.
But Martha is determined to change things. She is mobilizing her coworkers to action with their union, SEIU Local 1877, and is part of a union committee negotiating with major Northern California supermarket chains for better health and safety conditions. She says her goals are for the managers at Safeway to take her health problems seriously and provide gentler, more environmentally friendly cleaning products, better safety equipment, and better training on how to use chemicals.
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Victor
Janitor at Albertsons (Safeway) store in Southern California
My name is Victor. I’ve been a janitor for about four and a half years. In that time, I’ve used many different cleaners and chemicals. Each cleaner that I have to use, usually at night, has caused my skin to itch. Examples of these harsh cleaners are ones called Accumix and all the floor strippers.
The worst one in my opinion is the stripper. Stripper is a very strong concentrated liquid. When pouring this chemical you need to be very still so it does not splash up on you or on your clothes, as it can burn through your clothes. When I use stripper it usually falls onto my shoes. I’ve lost quite a few pairs of even those special safety shoes because when the stripper falls on my shoes it eats away at the stitching. I do not earn enough money to keep buying these special safety shoes.
The money that I make goes to my family and my wife for things that they need first. When my union rep came to visit me, I showed him my shoes and what the stripper had done to them. He asked me “How could you come to work like this” and I told him “Family first”. If I earned more money, maybe things would be different, but I need this job to support my family.
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Fidel
Janitor at Ralphs store in Southern California
I have worked for Ralphs for twenty-one years. The reason I stopped working for Ralphs, in August 2007, was because I got really sick and became disabled due to my job. I discovered after years of work, that doing this sort of job, in which you are exposed to various chemicals, can seriously harm your health in the future. In the beginning, you do not see or realize that these chemicals overtime may be harmful to your health.
In my personal experience, when I first started working at the stores and was exposed to some of the chemicals, I initially only occasionally developed headaches, eye irritation, itching in the throat and nose, but as I was exposed to these chemicals more and more, I ended up with lung damage. The result is that my lungs are not functioning normally, leading to shortness of breath, persistent cough and wheezing. This situation affects my daily life because I am completely restricted from enjoying a regular life. I remember earlier on in my cleaning career, developing a type of asthma that the doctors were able to control. Unfortunately, that was then – my current condition is way beyond that, and my asthma is out of control. I have been under treatment for more than a year and my doctor does not see much improvement or hope for improvement. There are no medications that have been able to over come my illness.
The chemicals that I was exposed to, such as Comet w/bleach, stripper, waxing, and professional Accumix, have over the long run affected my lungs, which caused me this medical condition. In addition, the exposures of these chemicals to keep the store clean are very hazardous to the person who is exposed to them. Symptoms resulting from this exposure include persistent cough, muscular aches, sleeping difficulty, tiredness, fatigue, and now that you want to be able to have a normal life it is difficult because, things that I used to do with facility and comfort before are very uncomfortable. For example, a simple task like dressing up and tying my shoes now causes me severe shortness of breath.
I really felt committed to my cleaning job and maintaining a high standard of cleanliness in my Ralph’s stores, but I am so very sad that all my years of hard-work have resulted in this severe illness. I believe that employees should have the ability to work in a safe working environment, where they are not exposed to harmful working conditions that may affect their health in the future.