3 November 2003
Union Press Conference
DC Unions Demand Council, Mayor Williams Pass Smokefree Workplaces Act to Protect Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives of Washington DC’s major unions today called on the DC City Council and Mayor Anthony Williams to pass comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation to protect all workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
At a press conference at the John A. Wilson Building, Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO; John Boardman, executive secretary-treasurer of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 25; and Johnnie Walker, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Union Local 383 urged immediate DC Council passage of the Smokefree Workplaces Act of 2003. The nearly 200 affiliated union locals of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO represent more than 150,000 DC area workers. Local 25 represents more than 5,000 District residents who work in the hospitality industry.
“DC workers put their health at risk when they go to work in a smoke-filled environment,” Williams said. “Secondhand smoke is a known health hazard. Workers shouldn’t have to breathe it on the job.”
Added Boardman, “People often forget that hotels, restaurants and bars are workplaces too. No one should have to risk contracting lung cancer, heart disease, bronchitis or asthma just by going to work.”
Secondhand smoke has 4,000 chemicals, more than 50 of which are known to cause cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates secondhand smoke causes 65,000 deaths annually in the United States.
Because of their high exposure to secondhand smoke at work, bar and restaurant workers are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to die of lung cancer than they would be if bars and restaurants were 100 percent smokefree, research shows.
“I have worked in smoke-filled bars and I could feel the impact it was having on my health” said Juliana Jones, a waitress at the Afghan Grill on Calvert Street, NW, which is 100 percent smokefree. “No one in DC should have to sacrifice their lungs to earn a paycheck.”
Cities throughout the country and five states (California, Delaware, New York, Maine and Connecticut) have enacted comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation to protect all workers, including those in bars and restaurants, from secondhand smoke.
But the District has one of the worst laws in the country when it comes to protecting workers from secondhand smoke. DC law permits smoking in almost all workplaces, including private offices, bars and restaurants, health care facilities and day care centers.
In September, smokefree workplace legislation was introduced in the District. The measure, sponsored by Councilmembers Adrian Fenty (Ward 4), Kathy Patterson (Ward 3) and Phil Mendelson (At-Large), would require all District workplaces – including bars and restaurants – to be 100 percent smokefree.
Research proves that in cities and states that have enacted comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation, businesses do just as well if not better. New York City gained 1,500 new bar and restaurant jobs in just four months after going 100 percent smokefree. Zagat’s restaurant survey says New York City’s smokefree policy, “far from curbing restaurant traffic, has given it a major lift!” And in California, alcohol sales at retail establishments increased after smokefree legislation took effect.