At least 40 maintenance workers have complained or contacted their union with concerns about working to clean up mold at the University of Maryland as the school grapples with a problem that has forced the temporary evacuation of at least 550 students from the Elkton Hall dormitory, WUSA 9’s Scott Broom reported last week.
At least some workers say they have been made sick by the mold, according to Marc Seiden of AFSCME Maryland, the union that represents 3,500 employees at the University. "I have bronchitis and anytime I smell mold, I can't breathe. I get shortness of breath," said maintenance worker Sherma Roberts who said she became ill after being assigned to clean mold infested rooms in Belair Hall with sub-standard protective equipment and no training on health protection. The union made its first formal complaints to the University on September 21, according to Seiden. On today’s labor calendar, this month’s meeting of the Metro Washington Council Delegates is at 6:30 tonight at the AFL-CIO; for complete details, go to dclabor.org and click on Calendar. In today’s labor history, on this date in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Clayton Antitrust Act – often referred to as "Labor’s Magna Carta" – establishing that unions are not "conspiracies" under the law. It for the first time freed unions to strike, picket and boycott employers. In the years that followed, however, numerous state measures and negative court interpretations weakened the law. Today’s labor quote is by Representative Robert Crosser of Ohio, a supporter of the Clayton Antitrust Act, who said that: “Failure to check the growth of monopolies…will result in industrial slavery.”
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