Dirty laundry: workers blast poor conditions

The union representing workers at FDR Services Corp., which provides laundry cleaning services for NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, called on the hospital to end its financial relationship with the company, which they say has endangered workers by exposing them to unsafe and unsanitary working conditions.

Members of the Laundry, Distribution, and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU, as well as elected officials rallied in front of the Sunset Park hospital Wednesday to demand that NYU-Langone cut ties with the laundry services company.

FDR Services Corp. employs nearly 175 laundry workers in a factory in Hempstead, Long Island. The employees face dangerous conditions such as extreme heat, toxic chemicals, rats, roaches and lack of hot water, the union alleged.

The National Labor Relations Board has investigated federal labor law violations at the company several times over the past few years, and in 2021, Attorney General Letitia James found that FDR Services Corp unlawfully fired seven employees who took off of work after they contracted Covid a year earlier. The AG’s office ordered the workers reinstated and recovered $400,000 from the laundry services provider.

“Workers at FDR Services have suffered for a long time,” said Megan Chambers, co-manager of the LDFS union. “Most industrial laundry companies abide by the law. There’s no excuse for NYU-Langone to be doing business with the worst company in the business.” 

In May, the union sent a letter alerting the CEO of NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn about the poor working conditions at FDR Services Corp. The letter called for the union and hospital officials to meet to discuss the issue, but their requests have been ignored, Chambers told The Chief.

NYU Langone-Hospital and FDR Services Corp. did not return a request for comment.

The laundry service workers performed essential work during the pandemic, the union leader said. “No hospital could function without clean sheets, patient gowns and doctors’ coats. This is a vital service,” Chambers said.

In addition to the working conditions, the workers have been working with an expired contract since February 2017. The employees, who are mostly women and Latino immigrants, also lacked adequate health insurance, the union official said.

“FDR Services workers had the same quality health insurance as other industrial laundry services workers until 2017, when FDR Services caused workers' health insurance to be cut off. They’ve refused to reinstate it,” Chambers said.

The union official noted that the company provided laundry services to other hospitals, including Richmond University Medical Center, as well as several nursing homes in the city.

Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes came out to support the workers and called for an end to the alleged mistreatment. 

“Your efforts as workers, at a time when a lot of people were depending on the services of the hospital, nobody was talking about the injustice that you were going through,” she said. “We are here to stand here with you today, tomorrow, until this gets done.”

Assembly member Taylor Darling, who represents Hempstead, said the poor working conditions have been a known problem for years, "but nothing has been done."

“NYU needs to do better, needs to make sure its subcontractors and contractors are doing right and meet standards,” Council Member Alexa Avilés added. “And we’re going to hold them to account.”

clewis@thechiefleader.com