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Pass the Emergency Worker Dignity and Safety Ordinance!

The disaster at the Hard Rock was preventable. Workers had documented the shoddy construction and corners cut days before the collapse, but the bosses ignored their warnings. In order to prevent another deadly incident of this sort, workers urgently need to be able to walk off the job if they deem the worksite a threat to their lives. If this right cannot be enforced by a union contract, it should be protected by city law. Every worker in New Orleans deserves this basic protection.

Workers should be free to exercise their rights without fear of retaliation or loss of work and wages; otherwise, a right is a right in name only. The case of Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma, the Hard Rock worker who was captured by ICE and deported for taking the courageous step of blowing the whistle on criminal developers, should be an outrage to all workers. To tolerate this type of terrorism is to give the bosses a free pass to walk over any right or protection that stands in the way of their profits.

The New Orleans Workers Group has proposed and is petitioning signatures for the following Emergency Worker Dignity and Safety Ordinance to be passed by the city as soon as possible. Sign the petition here. The ordinance is as follows:

  • The City’s immediate response and top priority is to properly and safely remove people’s bodies from an accident site so that their families can begin to have closure.
  • Any group of workers who decide that their job site conditions are unsafe have the right to walk off the job free of penalty and with the day’s pay.
  • Such action, and/or any potential accident, will immediately trigger an independent investigation.
  • Workers who walk off their job for safety concerns will be protected from termination.
  • Workers classified as 1099 contractors are protected under the ordinance.
    Workers’ rights to walk off the job due to safety concerns are protected under the ordinance regardless of documentation status and are protected from ICE involvement and deportation.
  • All workers who utilize their right to walk off an unsafe job are protected from retaliation and termination should they go to the press about their experience. This is to protect “whistleblowers.”
  • Workers will receive full pay and benefits for the time they are unable to work until employers address the workplace safety conditions.

To get involved in the campaign to pass the Emergency Worker Dignity and Safety Ordinance, contact the New Orleans Workers Group:

nolaworkersgroup@gmail.com or 504-671-7853.

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New Orleans: Demand City Return Killed Hard Rock Workers to Their Families Before Demolition

Five months have gone by and the Hard Rock building still stands as a testimony to the murderous greed of the developer group 1031 Canal Development, LLC and the criminal indifference of the city. For killing three workers, causing injuries to 18 workers and lost wages for hundreds more, and for disrupting bus service on 21 lines, the developers have yet to be charged with any crime. Nor have they paid a dime for the havoc their greed and negligence has caused.

Worse, five months have gone by and the remains of two of the workers killed in the disaster, Quinnyon Wimberley and Jose Ponce Arreola, have yet to be removed from the rubble. Their families have been denied the basic dignity of a proper burial while the city claims to have already spent more $12 million to deal with the fallout from the collapse. New Orleans residents deserve a full accounting of this figure. How much of this money could have been spent hiring a crew that specializes in excavating human remains from buildings damaged by earthquakes or bombings?

Now, against the wishes of the mourning families, Mayor Cantrell has ordered the building to be demolished with the bodies of the killed workers inside. This outrage cannot stand. The city estimates that the demolition and recovery will cost an additional $11 million at least. This money should go towards the safe removal of the killed workers before the building is imploded. The families of Quinnyon Wimberley and Jose Ponce Arreola deserve respect!

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Poem from the Family of Quinnyon Wimberly

Quinnyon Wimberly Died in the Hard Rock Hotel

On Oct. 12, the Hard Rock Hotel under construction collapsed, killing three workers and injuring dozens more. Anthony Magrette, Quinnyon Wimberly, and Jose Ponce Arreola were murdered by corporate greed. Horrendously, three months later, two of their bodies are still in the ruins of the toppled building. Longtime resident and metal worker Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma was illegally deported to Honduras to prevent him from testifying about the conditions that led to the collapse. Ramirez witnessed that workers had reported hazards to the bosses who continued the work anyway. The city has done nothing.

Quinnyon & Jose:
The Forgotten Ones Not Recovered
By Tommie Wimberly, Sr.
Two hard working men supporting their families
Making an honest living with dignity
Went to work one Sunday cause of loyalty
Working inside of an unstable building that collapsed because of negligence
caused fatal injury

Two men dedicated to the careers they possessed
Who deserve honor from the people their talented hands have blessed
Left their homes one morning not knowing they would not return
Now lost under rubble and the city leaders claim they are concerned
Everyday saying recovery is their “number one priority”
As each day passes by it seems recovery
Is just talk
No action. No accountability.

Another week has passed and the talk of recovering the bodies is fading away
Family and friends are wondering:
“will this be the search and recovery day?”
Waiting for officials very patiently
To recover the remains of those hard-working citizens
who deserve a proper burial with dignity

I would like to apologize for the injustice that happened to you all
For working inside an environment that caused those floors and walls to fall.

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Marched for Memphis Sanitation Workers

Honor New Orleans Sanitation Workers with Higher Wages, Better Conditions,  Respect, Union Rights

By Sanashihla

Memphis and New Orleans are cities with rich traditions, culture and histories of resistance to oppression. Both cities have ports to the Mississippi river. Both cities have a high population of Black people suffering from poverty. Both cities have had workers who died from unsafe work environments, neglect, and abuse of power. It’s time for workers to rise and fight!

Time for all workers to stand up
On February 1, 1968 two Memphis based sanitation workers, Robert Walker and Echol Cole, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck.

On October 12, 2019 three New Orleans construction workers, Jose Ponce Arreola, Quinnyon Wimberly, and Anthony Magrette were killed during the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel. Construction continued despite workers having voiced concerns about bent beams and flawed materials being used during construction.

Had the Hard Rock workers in New Orleans not been denied union rights, they could have forced the bosses to address the safety concerns or walked off the job without punishment and with pay.

However, due to the greed and disregard for the workers, the bosses and city officials in both cases put dedicated workers’ lives in jeopardy. The bosses know workers need paychecks, even under unsafe situations. They push the workers because they know that other business owners are pressing them for rent or charging them for food and all other necessities for daily survival. This puts workers in a bind.

History has lessons for us today
After almost two weeks of getting no response from the city about the 1968 death of the two Memphis based sanitation workers, 1,300 Black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike for improved safety standards and better wages.

The Memphis workers of 1968 had a union. And because they were organized and had learned the lessons of a previous strike, they were able to gain necessary support. The strike became not only part of the union struggle but the national fight for civil rights. Memphis sanitation workers were Black, and the bad conditions they faced were also a byproduct of racism.

The working class cannot and will not wait for anyone else to come save us
Workers in New Orleans face the same conditions. But most workers here do not have a union. In order to improve conditions, workers must get organized on all fronts! The business owners know that a union would have had the power to do something about the safety concerns expressed by the workers. A union could have saved lives. But they don’t care. We workers must care, get organized, and fight back!

Our power is our labor and organizing
From Memphis to New Orleans, the words of Dr. King’s very last speech should inspire us today: “The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya: Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee—the cry is always the same: We want to be free!”

Dr. King believed in the power of the people. He believed in the power of organizing, and the organizing of power. The real power is in our labor and what we decide to do or not do collectively with that labor! Dr. King emphasized, “we don’t have to live like we are forced to live[…]When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.”

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United in Death, Construction Workers Must Unite in Life, Organize Unions and Safety Committees

Three workers were killed in the Hard Rock Hotel collapse: Jose Ponce Arreola, 63; Quinnyon Wimberly, 36; and Anthony Magrette, 49,

Had the workers at the Hard Rock Hotel been unionized, those who spotted the bent beams would have alerted all unions on the job and demanded correction or else have exercised their right to walk off the job without punishment.

On October 10, Randy Gaspard, a concrete contractor, posted to Facebook a video taken by a Hard Rock worker. The video shows a sagging concrete slab, the posts supporting it bending under its weight. The worker who took the video spoke about the excessive space between the support beams and said that they were “already to the point of breaking.” These facts were supported by other workers on the site. This was two days before the collapse.
Gaspard said the workers told the contractor that the extra load was bending support posts but the contractor said to keep removing them, shifting an even greater load to the remaining posts.

Worker safety committees needed; we cannot trust bosses or city inspectors
The biggest factors in the rise of workplace fatalities are deregulation of industry, lack of unions, attacks on migrants, OSHA underfunding, government/industry complicity, climate change, and temporary employment. Changes from permanent to temporary and subcontracted labor also contribute. The capitalists are to blame for all of this. Workers must step forward to organize and defend themselves.

The states with the highest percentage of construction deaths have the fewest unions, the lowest death rates are in states with most unions. The highest fatality rates in 2015 include Louisiana and Mississippi and Arkansas.
Fund OSHA, yes, but don’t depend on it

OSHA, the Organizational Safety and Health Act, was passed in 1970. It set up some standards and inspections. But besides corruption and bribery, it would take 159 years to inspect every work site even once with their current staff and resources.

OSHA penalties are also not strong enough. The average penalty for killing a worker was $6,500 for federal violations and only $2,500 for state plans. Only 33 worker deaths have been criminally prosecuted.

Workers’ blood on Trump’s hands
OSHA was insufficient enough, but the Trump administration is waging an outright war on the working class. He has called for a freeze on new protections, and requires that for every new protection, two must be repealed.

He has called to repeal a law requiring contractors disclose safety and health violations in order to get a federal contract. He has delayed new hazardous materials rules and has eliminated the Labor Department’s safety and health training programs as well as the Chemical Safety board. And he’s cut job safety research by $100 million.

While we must fight for laws and enforcement, the most important thing is to organize safety committees and unions on our jobs. We cannot put our lives, or the well-being of our families at risk by depending on bosses or their capitalist government.

Here are the facts:

  • Construction workers are 6% of the workforce but 21% of
    on-the-job death.
  • Thanks to the Trump Administration’s deregulations, the death rate is increasing.
  • Migrant Latinx workers have the highest rate of deaths.

The bosses are taking advantage of the anti-migrant attack to pay workers less and ignore safety concerns. Their death rate is 18% higher than the national average.

Citizen workers must unite with and defend their migrant brothers and sisters. If bosses can discriminate against anyone, it eventually lowers the wages and working conditions for all workers.

Sample of Union Clauses in a Contract

Right to Refuse Unsafe Work (No Discrimination)
An employee acting in good faith has the right to refuse to work under conditions that the employee reasonably believes present an imminent danger of death or serious harm to the employee. The Employer shall not discipline or discriminate against an employee for a good faith refusal to perform assigned tasks if the employee has requested that the Employer correct the hazardous conditions but the conditions are not corrected, and the danger was one that a reasonable person under the circumstances would conclude is an imminent danger of death or serious harm. An employee who has refused in good faith to perform assigned tasks shall retain the right to continued employment and receive full compensation for the tasks that would have been performed.

Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment
Personal protective clothing and equipment shall be furnished and maintained by the Employer without cost to employees whenever such equipment is required as a condition of employment or is required by OSHA or other agency.

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Migrant, Citizen Worker Solidarity is Key

By A New Orleans Resident

The collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans is a clear example of how the blood and sweat of workers are exploited only to make the rich even richer. Because rich bosses hire workers, exploit their labor, and show time and time again that they do not value us, worker solidarity is more critical than ever for the well-being and safety of the working class.

Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma is one of five workers who rightly filed a lawsuit seeking damages for the physical wounds suffered during the building collapse. The workers are taking a stand because they know that the building collapsed as a result of materials that were inadequate and supports too thin and insufficient for the building.

After filing the lawsuit and speaking to the media about the experience, Ramirez Palma was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), preventing him from telling his firsthand experience, preventing him from fighting for his rights, and preventing him from accessing much needed medical attention for the injuries he suffered.

The capitalist system which exploits the labor of workers for the benefit of the rich does NOT care if the labor is provided by Black workers, poor white workers, or migrant workers.

Mourn for the Dead, Organize for the Living: Construction unions, migrants’ supporters gather to honor Hard Rock workers. The Oct. 17 vigil was organized by the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council. These unions should p[ledge to open organizing campaigns in every construction site and open their doors to all workers, including migrants.
The capitalist system uses racism, documented vs undocumented, or gender-based discrimination to create roadblocks to worker unity. In the end, these forms of divisiveness only end up hurting workers. When we come together and turn our attention to those who exploit us, then and only then, will workers win what is rightfully ours.

It’s intolerable that in pursuit of tourist dollars in the city of New Orleans, which already brings in the most tourist dollars in the world, the rich business owners are putting workers, residents, and tourists in harm’s way by cutting corners. They are putting the safety of the workers and the general public at risk.

Migrant workers (and all other workers) gave labor, blood, sweat and tears to rebuild this city, so we must stand together when workers need to speak up, rise up, and fight for rights and safety. This is our duty!

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Hard Rock Hotel: The Real Story

What You Won’t Read in The Advocate or City Hall’s Press Releases

By Gavrielle Gemma

Without even knowing the technical specifics of the collapse, it’s obvious that capitalist greed, faulty construction and engineering, and city complicity are to blame.

City approves crooked developer, extra height
Company gave campaign $$$ to politicians
In 2011 the City Council approved a waiver for extra building height. They authorized a crooked developer, Kailas, to manage the project although this company was criminally guilty of robbing Road Home funds after Katrina.

While only one family member was jailed, the judge in his sentencing said that he was taking the fall for the whole family. This company, Kailas, and the building company they contracted, Citadel Builders, both donated thousands of dollars to Mayor Cantrell’s campaign.

Though one building inspector has been indicted and two more have been suspended, the full details of the unfolding scandal involving the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits remain closed to the public. There is suspicion of widespread payoffs.

Citadel Builders was cited by the State of Louisiana for 11 safety construction violations in 2018 alone. They do not make public the nature of these violations. Still the building proceeded.

Workers in shut down area must get emergency pay
Lawsuits are already being filed by workers who were in the building and workers in the surrounding area who are losing income. The city is demanding the developer reimburse the city $400,000 for police and fire, etc. but is ignoring the daily crisis hundreds of other workers are now experiencing. The mayor should issue an executive order to pay these workers from a city fund that should be made immediately available to all those out of work. The city can sue the developer for compensation. Unemployment insurance will not cover many hard-hit workers or be enough to survive on in the coming months.

Independent investigation needed
An independent investigation must be conducted with the involvement of Hard Rock workers, construction unions and community leaders. We cannot depend on the city, inspectors or developers to fully disclose reasons for this extraordinary event.