Untouchable Workers May Lead the Way

Organized labor's pledge to bring a significant portion of the work force into union ranks has come up against some hard realities -- including workers' mistrust of unions. But this can be overcome as organizing drives led by and focused on asbestos strippers in Los Angeles and New York have shown, and these successes may serve as a model for other efforts across the country. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigration and labor issues.

They call themselves "untouchable" -- some 30,000 asbestos strippers who hold down one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in America. Now they're one of labor's hottest targets in its drive to organize the unorganized.

Here in Los Angeles, virtually every one of the 2,000 asbestos strippers is an immigrant. Humberto Gomez, a former organizer for the United Farm Workers, is at the forefront of a drive to bring them into labor's ranks. Gomez is business manager of Laborer's Local 882, AFL-CIO, and the national union is paying close attention to this campaign.

Health is at the forefront of Gomez's concerns. Inhaling the fibers of asbestos -- once a common ingredient in insulation, floor and ceiling tiles, and drywall -- can cause the growth of tumors which can be life-threatening. Despite this, most non-union workers have no health insurance benefits -- and with wages starting as low as $6.85 an hour, no chance to buy their own.

"I've been removing asbestos since 1984," says Rafael Orellana, a new recruit to the Laborers. "In that time three of my friends died of asbestosis. I became a volunteer organizer to save the lives of my coworkers and their families."

Nationwide, asbestos is responsible for more than half the 10-12,000 cases of lung cancer reported annually that can be traced to occupational exposure, according to research recently published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

In Los Angeles, workers want contractors to dampen the asbestos while they work to prevent fibers from getting into the air. And they want showers at day's end, so they don't contaminate their families. (Malignant disease has been diagnosed in women whose only exposure to asbestos was cleaning work clothes and shoes contaminated with asbestos fibers.)

Although the workers are aware of the hazards, recruiting is not easy because they are afraid they will be fired, organizers say. Those with no immigration papers are especially fearful.

"We don't know our rights," explains Sergio Ruiz Nunez. "All my co-workers are Latinos. White people won't even come near our truck. We're untouchable."

To reach the workers, union activists visit -- even picket -- job sites, and talk to workers in their homes. Some, like Orellana, volunteer after their own work day and on weekends. Others have left their jobs to work full time as union staff.

Another obstacle facing organizers is the negative image many workers have of labor unions. Across the country, organizers are finding out that workers' feelings about the role they play inside unions are as important as wages or working conditions.

In Los Angeles, the Laborers are working with Frost and Insulation Workers Local 5 -- which has a history of exclusion. When it first accepted immigrant workers, they had no right to vote in local elections. In fact, a separate local was chartered for them in 1991.

Just last year, pressure from Latino members led to combining the two locals and a change in leadership.

The Laborers Union itself has not been known for its militancy. But Gomez believes that is changing. He points out that he was elected to his post by the members. "I've told workers that I'm not afraid that they're going to want to run the union. They can put me out in three years if they want."

In New York City, asbestos strippers have also demanded that the union clean up its own act before they give it their support.

"There was a long history of union corruption, cheating, and payoffs," says organizer David Johnson, who, at 28, is heading his first major organizing campaign.

The new national president of the Laborers, Arthur Coia, Jr., recently placed ten locals and one district council under control of the international union and removed their leaders.

The New York local then joined forces with a grassroots group, the Hazardous Materials Workers' Union, and with the White Lung Association, a group of health and safety advocates. So far the campaign has recruited 1,800 asbestos strippers in New York City, and chartered a new local. All its officers and business agents have worked in the industry.

Watching from across the country, Humberto Gomez said, "we came to the conclusion that we had to take on the industry as a whole."

Without new tactics like these, says Richard Bensinger, AFL-CIO national organizing director, unions will be hard put even to maintain their fragile 12 percent hold on the workforce. "We'll never have enough professional organizers to recruit the number of workers we need to survive."

Gomez gives New York credit -- and thinks the new leadership emerging from the ranks of untouchables in Los Angeles will help rejuvenate labor across the country.