The rooms inside Building 664 are thick with dust and oppressively hot and dirty, according to factory workers who spoke to Patch at a demonstration outside B&Hs iconic Manhattan storefront on Sunday.
My nose is always bleeding, B&H worker Jorge Lora, 36, said in Spanish, drawing an imaginary trickle of blood down his face with his index finger.
I have many throat problems from the dust, Lora said. I wake up every morning with pain throughout my whole body.
The allegations made by the workers, revealed this October with guidance from seasoned labor organizers at the nonprofit Laundry Workers Center, are staggering: Fiberglass that fills the air and embeds itself into workers skin, eyes and lungs, causing constant nosebleeds, rashes, obscured vision and breathing problems. Zero safety training. No gloves or hard hats. Backbreaking loads of camera equipment. Leaning towers of pallets, stacked to hazardous heights. Denial, by management, to provide water and bathroom breaks causing workers to develop kidney stones and become severely dizzy, even faint and refusal to address on-site injuries.
All of this, workers say, on shifts that often last 12 to 16 hours, with a single midday break.
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