Fast to show solidarity with suffering workers

Bob Gagliardi is one of those, according to the Coalition. After 23 years of service at SUNY as a cook, he lost 500 hours of paid sick time when Sodexho Marriott became his new employer. In addition, Mr. Gagliardi lost vacation time, employer contributions to his pension and regular pay raises. He now pays twice as much as he used to for health insurance.

Alda Lopez, originally from the Dominican Republic, has been trying to support her family on the $6.50 an hour she makes cleaning the Con Edison building in Queens. She, too, is not benefiting from the prosperous times, said the Coalition.

From March 29 to March 31, the Coalition hopes to bring to light the plight of such workers during a 40-hour fast for "New York's invisible workers."

Solidarity

Barbara DiTommaso, chair of the Albany diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice, said that these "invisible" workers don't enjoy the same benefits others have.

"Very often, people working in professions take away satisfaction with their work," she said. "Laborers doing distasteful work don't enjoy this sense of satisfaction."

She pointed out that food service workers often deal with demanding clientele while farmworkers labor in unjust conditions. "They should be paid the most because they're doing the work no one else wants to do," Ms. DiTommaso said.

Fasting, she added, provides people an opportunity to reflect on the conditions of the working poor. "Fasting requires sacrifice," she said. "It's a time to do serious reading and reflecting. As I feel hungry, I think of people whose paycheck can't make it through the month and the humiliation parents feel when they can't give their child what they need."

Union and Church

"Fasting from food has been one method of moral witness used by those who 'hunger' for justice," she said. "Fasting affirms that the welfare of 'the other' has significance and the welfare of the common good has priority. Our religious traditions and our history of labor struggle unite us in a 40-hour fast each year on behalf of working people who suffer even in these times of abundance."

Ms. Zucker said there are many misconceptions that exist about the working poor:

* The belief that people can support a family on minimum wage. According to Ms. Zucker, a person earning the $5.15 minimum wage and working full time earns only 81 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of three.

* The belief that most minimum wage earners are teens who are not supporting themselves or a family. In fact, she said, 69 percent of minimum wage workers are adults, and 39 percent are the sole breadwinners for their families.

* The belief that the state has addressed the income gap between the rich and the poor. According to Ms. Zucker, New York has the widest income gap between the rich and poor of all 50 states.

Activism

Retirees, she said, often worked for 30 years or more for the company. Today, some receive monthly pensions of $422, making it difficult to make ends meet.

While Ms. Quirini is concerned about her peers she also has fears for future generations of retirees. "Look around and see how many companies aren't offering pensions," she said, "or the number of people who work for temp agencies and receive no benefits or pensions."

While companies are acting within the bounds of the law, Ms. Quirini said this doesn't make their actions right. "Not too many years ago, slavery and discrimination against women and minorities was legal in our country," she said. "But society over the years has recognized that slavery and discrimination was and is morally wrong."

Fasting and hope

"The fast ends at noon on March 31, the first day that farmworkers in New York will receive the same minimum wage as all other workers," she said. "This legislative victory was aided by those who fasted previously."

(For more information on the fast, call 459-5400, ext. 6294, or visit the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition's website at

www.labor-religion.org.)

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