On October 25, 2008 the low-wage workers who clean Camden Yards and who work at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor marched together from the stadium to the heart of the city’s tourist district to declare the Inner Harbor a "Human Rights Zone." Workers were uniting to extend and expand the 2007 living wages victory, when cleaners at Camden Yards secured a living wage at the publicly owned stadium after a three year struggle. The Living Wages at Camden Yards campaign culminated with an announced hunger strike and a September 1st deadline. The announced hunger strike prompted Maryland’s governor to side with the workers in a speech made on the day before the deadline ended. With the governor’s support, the stadium authority reversed course and finally agreed to stop paying poverty wages to the cleaners.
Following the victory and a successful union drive with over 80% of workers voting yes to form a local AFSCME at the stadium, workers next set their attention on how to extend the victory to more workers and how to expand the human rights secured. After nearly a year of research, the United Workers developed a strategy for carrying out an economic human rights campaign at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Like Camden Yards, the Inner Harbor was created by public dollars but is used for private gains at the expense of the city’s low-wage workers.
To announce the new campaign workers marched from Camden Yards to the Inner Harbor. A flag was symbolically planted and the harbor was declared to be a "Human Rights Zone." The campaign will extend and expand the economic human rights to health care, education and work with dignity to all low-wage workers at the Inner Harbor, including the right to a living wage. The campaign aims to unite low-wage workers across sectors and employers.
Extending & Expanding Victory
At the start of the Living Wages at Camden Yards campaign, cleaners were paid an average of $4.50 an hour and were treated like trash. Threats and violence directed at women by managers was common. Workers were not paid for all hours worked. Breaks were not allowed.
Now workers are paid the state living wage of $11.62 an hour and are about to sign a contract. This level of victory marks the first time that temporary day laborers in the United States secured a living wage by organizing and demanding that their rights be respected.
As with the campaign at Camden Yards, the Human Rights Zone campaign promises to unite workers and build worker power through transformative universal values, leadership development and economic human rights demands. Workers will lead a consumer-supported campaign directed at associating poverty-wages and disrespect for workers with all levels of the profit chain. Workers will hold employers and the Inner Harbor accountable for economic human rights violations and will engage the community in the struggle to extend and expand human rights for all.
Inner Harbor Worker Survey
The United Workers conducted a survey of 147 workers at the Inner Harbor after announcing the launch of the campaign. Through this process, the worst three employers were identified and announced as possible first targets at a press conference on March 6, 2009. The announcement was held in a plaza just across from the Inner Harbor.
Workers reported poverty-wages, stolen tips, unpaid hours, lack of health care and few educational opportunities.
Workers also reported sexual harassment. A prep cook at Cheesecake Factory said that:
"managers touched women’s behinds and when women workers bent over, the managers would pretend to hump the women as they walked by."
Another worker said:
"I have heard that in order to get good days and good shifts, servers have to do this manager sexual favors. A server quit because this manager came back after a leave of absence. The server said she was praying to God that the manager would not come back. She told me one day that he asked her for ‘favors’ to switch to getting better shifts."
Workers also reported that employers did not provide paid sick days and that many had been required to come to work sick, or risk losing their job.
One worker at Phillips said:
"I complained that I was sick, a stomach virus. I kept throwing up every time I ate something. I called eight hours before my shift. Then three hours before my shift and the manager said you got to bring your ass in. When I got in, I was throwing up on the deck outside. They finally said I could go home."
A committee of workers determined that the worst three employers are M&S Grill, Cheesecake Factory and Phillips. One of these three will be announced as the first target of a major worker-led and consumer-supported campaign to be announced on April 18, 2009. The campaign will be tied to specific demands to be announced on the same day.
Workers and Faith Ally Blocked from Delivering Notices to Three Worst Employers
At the March 6, 2009 press conference unveiling the results of the survey workers had planned to hand deliver notices to each of the three employers. Police told workers that the press conference would be stopped and workers would be arrested if they went ahead with plans to deliver the notices. Rather than risk arrest, the workers asked Rev. Brown, a faith ally of the United Workers, to deliver the notices on the workers’ behalf. But even before three local TV camera crews and other media, the police told the minister that he could not deliver the notices to the three businesses.
This is the second time that police have prevented the United Workers from carrying out peaceful and non-disruptive expression at the Inner Harbor. At the campaign launch police would not allow workers to announce the Human Rights Zone Campaign directly across from the Inner Harbor. This forced the announcement to be moved to a location nearer the convention center than the Inner Harbor.
The Inner Harbor was created through public dollars. Once part of a working port, the Inner Harbor has long been at the heart of the city. So why won’t the city allow the public to demand that workers there get treated with respect, paid a living wage and have their rights to health care and education respected by employers? Just as with Camden Yards, a publicly owned and operated stadium paying poverty wages for private gains, we demand better. Workers had to announce to go on a hunger strike in 2007 in order to finally end the poverty wages and help make sure that public dollars result in public benefits.
Our city government has its priorities wrong when the police are used to block a pastor from hand delivering notices to restaurants that don’t even provide sick days for workers. The city should allow (not stop) workers to voice the demand that they not be required to come to work sick, throwing up on the restaurant deck. Workers have the right to demand that they be provided health care and paid time off. There’s something wrong when the public is not allowed to access to our waterfront, developed using public dollars and on land that’s long been at the heart of Baltimore.
The Inner Harbor is Our Harbor. That’s why on April 18, 2009 workers will return to the Harbor to make our demands known. We will speak directly to the worst employer, not hidden from view and across the street. This time we’ll have more than three posters and a pastor to carry our message. We’ll have the voices of the hundreds of low-wage workers and hundreds of our allies.
Human Rights Zone March
April 18, 2009
Baltimore City
UnitedWorkers.org
410-230-1998