JoeCherner-announce

For more info, contact Joe@smokefree.org

To write in support of smokefree workplace legislation, go to
www.smokefree.net/alerts.php

 

 

B.R.E.A.T.H.E.

Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy (smokefree)
Environment

 

Only workers can explain what it is like to be polluted by tobacco smoke for 8
hours a day, every work day.  Here are some heartbreaking worker stories...



Rocita G:  For 12 years, I worked as a waitress in smoky restaurant/bars.  I
needed the job to support myself and put food on my table.  I would go home from
work everyday with a headache from the smoke.  The smoke clung to my clothes,
hair, and skin.  The worst part was when I would cough up black mucous.  One day
I was working and I felt something pop in my lungs.  I went to the doctor.  He
told me I had lung cancer and only 2 to 4 years to live.  When I walk 3 blocks,
I'm out of breath.  I've never smoked in my life.  I'm only 37 years old.

 

Heather C:  I've been a waitress for 40 years to earn a decent living for my
daughter and myself.  The air where I worked was blue from the smoke.  My doctor
told me I have a smoker's tumor and I'm dying.  I never smoked a day in my life.

 

John S:  I am a bartender.  Our environment is often reduced to a single room
with no space to maneuver away from the toxic clouds of smoke.  There is no
ventilation system in the world that will work against smoke blown two feet away
from your face.

 

Diane Q:  My friend was a bartender who didn't smoke.  He died of pancreatic
cancer.  The number one cause of pancreatic cancer is smoking and/or secondhand
smoke.

 

Jackie W:  I am choking from excessive secondhand smoke and my clothes and hair
are permeated with the putrid smell of cigarettes.  This is particularly
disturbing for me as I am pregnant.  Exposure to secondhand smoke during
pregnancy is known to cause serious risks to the survival and health of the
baby.  This is not fair.  Others' choice to smoke is infringing on my right to
work in a healthy environment.

 

Matinah P:  I have been a bartender at a restaurant for the past two years. 
During the course of working there, I discovered that I was two months pregnant.
 I immediately stopped working, but my unborn child had been exposed to two
months of smoke.  I have never smoked a day in my life and I only pray that this
does not have a negative effect on my baby.

 

Courtney S:   I am a 22 year-old bartender.  I don't think it is fair that I
have to suffer because some people think that it is a "personal freedom" to blow
poisons in other people's faces.  The solution really is simple, don't let that
happen.

 

Athena R:  As a college student, I have worked in restaurants/bars out of
necessity to earn money.  I had to work in order to pay the bills.  I urge you
to please support smokefree workplaces.  Secondhand smoke is dangerous, and we
need to protect all people's health equally.

 

Dena G:  As a former bartender and waitress, I would leave work coughing up
mucus and barely able to breath--all of which was caused by secondhand smoke.
Many bartenders, like I was, are unable to leave the bar area to escape the
smoke. Therefore, for up to 8 hours a day, bartenders are breathing in these
noxious chemicals.

 

Carolyn V:  I worked in the nightclubs for years and finally had to quit working
and even going out to them socially because I developed asthma.  People working
to put money on the table shouldn't have to get sick to hold a job.

 

David BBooth:  I used to be a musician, playing in smokey clubs. It was AWFUL,
but there was nothing I could do about it.  Please help move forward -- OUT OF
THE SMOKE AGES.  NOBODY should have to breathe other peoples' carcinogens in
order to do their job.

 

Larry R:  I am a working musician for over fifty years and I can't begin to give
you the substance of my personal experience of observing how the breathing of
tobacco smoke affects your health working in a smoking environment.  It is
abominable.  The tobacco industry has deliberately misinformed the public about
the inclusion of chemicals in their products and the life threatening
implications of smoking.

 

Anna K:  As a bartender this issue directly affects me and my health.  I am
asking for your support of smokefree legislation.

 

Thom K:  I am a long time survivor with HIV (17+ yrs).  I have worked in the
restaurant/hotel/bar industry most of my adult life as I need a part time job to
supplement my income.  Bartending allows me to work a minimal amount of hours
and earn the extra income.  People say to me, well it's your choice if you work
there.  Yes it is, so why must I be subjected to second hand smoke.

 

Sophie M:  In my previous job I worked in a restaurant waiting tables and
bartending. While we had a nonsmoking section for patrons (with questionable
effectiveness), there was no nonsmoking section for workers.  If a restaurant or
bar were found to have damaging levels of asbestos or radon, it would surely be
closed as a public health risk.  Why don't we treat secondhand smoke, which is
filled with deadly carcinogens, the same way?


Hadassah H:  I work at a local bar and I love my job, but I detest the fact that
I am continually exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke against my will. It is
easy to say, "Get another job", but the service industry is one of the better
paying jobs in our community.

 

Brittany L:  For nine years I worked in restaurants and bars to support tuition
bills.  On an average 8 hour shift, I was forced to breath in the secondhand
smoke equivalent of a half pack of cigarettes.  I am a believer in the right to
work in a smoke-free environment.



David F:  I am a former dishwasher, waiter, and bartender.  I started working
when I was 13 washing dishes in a bar and grill. I  continued working in the
restaurant/bar business as a waiter and bartender up until I graduated from
college.  The jobs were ideal. They allowed me to work at night, while pursuing
my education during the day.  All workers deserve a safe, healthy, smokefree
work environment. No one should have to risk his health to hold a job.



Joyce H:  I am the mother of a college age student who works to help herself
through college.  She has asthma and has to work in this smoke filled
environment.  Please sign a bill and make life better for all of us.

 

Lee H:  I have given serious consideration to taking on a part time job
bartending to supplement my base income. I have all but ruled out this option,
which is otherwise very desirable, due to the increased health risks from
secondhand smoke

 

Juliana J:  For many years, I have worked in smoky restaurant and bar settings
as a cook, waitress, and musician.  I believe that ALL deserve a safe, healthy,
smoke free work environment.  I know FIRST HAND that second hand smoke is
hurting workers' health.

 

Madeline R:  I I had to quit a high-paying job years ago because of smoke in the
workplace. I symnpathize with anyone who is forced to work in such an
environment. This unhelathful practice should not be allowed to continue.

 

Jill H:  I work in five different restaurants. Two years ago my owner-operator
decided to make his operations smoke-free!  I used to go home with terrible
headaches, sinus problems and an overall feeling of illness. I didn't realize it
was due to the second hand smoke I was inhaling all day, until it wasn't there
any more.  I can't believe legislators wouldn't want to protect the people that
have put them into office.



Richard L:  My daughter works in a restaurant and already suffers from breathing
difficulties. Needless exposure to someone else's smoke is very hazardous to her
health.  Please get rid of smoke in the workplace making life a little better
for everybody.

 

Adam S:  I work bartending 4 days a week and I am disgusted with the amount of
smoke I am constantly enveloped in.  PLEASE stop the smoking for the benefit of
EVERYONE!!!!



David F:  I have been a food and beverage professional for over 30 years,
managing private clubs and restaurants.  I feel I have the right to a healthy
work environment.  I shouldn't have to de-smoke myself every time I work or go
out.

 

Mollie M:  I am a full time female student who bartends to pay rent and living
expenses.  When I started bartending I found out what it is like to be a chain
smoker - secondhand. I was a professional dancer before I chose to go to school.
My stamina has been badly effected by working as a bartender!  I cough a lot and
simply climbing stairs gets me winded and the coughing and headaches effect my
concentration in classes. It is very important for every single worker to have a
smokefree environment. No one should spend a day recovering from their job. 



Jacqueline M:  When I worked in restaurants I was disgusted by the odor in my
cloths and feeling in my lungs when I would return home after my shift. I have
also known people who have died of lung cancer as a direct result of smoking.
With the realization that second-hand smoke is a deadly toxin, I am amazed that
there is even a question of continuing to allow workers and patrons to suffer
and risk their health for the mere inconveniencing of a smoker's addiction.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of supporting a safe and healthy work
place for all. 



Emmett I:   I am a bartender.  My girlfriend is also a bartender.  Second-hand
smoke has badly affected her health and mine.  Both of us now are constantly
coughing.  We can't go on working in these conditions, but what can we do?
Bartending jobs are incredibly scarce, and that's all either of us know how to
do! She has to put herself through school, and only has certain nights she can
work. I have been tending bar for five years, full time. To try to find a new
profession now would be financial suicide.  

Stephen S:  I am a bartender and professional actor working in restaurants and
bars for the last six years.  My job is ideal because it allows me to work at
night, making the necessary money I need to sustain myself in this city, and
pursue my acting career during the day. I have a right, personally, as do all
restaurant/bar/club workers, to work in a safe, smoke free environment.  When I
committed to my job, I committed to selling food and drinks, not to being
exposed to cancer causing smoke. 

Nancy K:   I've worked in several restaurants and bars.  It's not fair to ask
the people working at a job to breath in foul, polluted air.  You just can't
waive away a person's health.  Nothing makes up for that.

Dylan C:   My employer always looked at me like I had 6 heads when I'd tell them
about the unsafe air quality at my job. Their reply was, "You work in a bar!" So
I should die?  I can remember turning blue gasping for air, trying to hold my
breath as I ran through the room with trays of cocktails.  Philip Morris is one
of our biggest clients, hell, we can't tell them not or where to smoke. Again
swallow it.  I would come home in tears.  I went to see an Occupational
Environmental Hazard doctor. I was diagnosed with Occupational Asthma. Since
then, I wolf down inhalers, bronchodilators, steroids.  I have never smoked a
cigarette in my life. This is my reward for 6 hard worked years in a bar.  The
law really should be about the right to breathe and NOT the right to smoke.

Catherine D:   I am a working jazz singer - a career I've trained and worked
hard for.  I'm doing it with the best, have international record distribution
and radio play.  I have asthma and singing in these smoky restaurants, clubs and
bars is significantly detrimental to my health and, once the asthma kicks in in
these workplaces, my ability to perform my work at my best.  I would greatly
appreciate the opportunity to pursue my profession and my career in the same
smokefree work environment afforded to so many other New Yorkers.  I'm not
asking for anything they don't already have and I think I deserve to have a
smokefree workplace as much as these other New Yorkers do. 

Nathan B:  I often wonder if I will be doing the right thing by returning to
work at the Millennium Hilton. On 9/11 my workplace was destroyed and God
willing I will be able to return to work this coming January.  I just wanted to
let you know how not working in a smoke filled bar every day has affected my
health. Since the Hilton has closed my health improvements have been dramatic. 
I wonder about the damage that was caused to my lungs from breathing smoke
filled air every day.  I had chronic asthma. Not just the kind that you see
people with an inhaler but the kind that puts you in the hospital and
jeopardizes your life. During one attack I lost consciousness in the emergency
room and fortunately was revived without any lasting effects from oxygen
deprivation. Until 9/11 I had been taking daily steroids for my lung condition
along with corti-steroids for allergies.  I need to work; I feel that my rights
to enjoy a safe & healthy work environment are being violated. There is no
reason not to protect my health. 

Jeremy B:  I am a bartender.  New York City an opportunity to exert its
leadership in a profound and important way. By ensuring the right of all workers
in New York City to earn their livings and build their lives without fear of the
undeniable risks of second hand cigarette smoke, New York City can better the
lives lived in our city, and serve as an example to communities across the
country. 

Adam S:  I have worked as a bartender for years. I am a non-smoker, but I can
feel the secondhand smoke effect my health.  Please support smokefree workplace
legislation for the better health of all of us.

Katharine E:  As a professional singer I am frequently finding my personal and
professional health compromised by other peoples' use of cigarettes.  There is
NO compromise that will eliminate second-hand smoke from invading the lungs of
non-smokers if smokers are allowed to smoke in public venues. This is
unfortunate, but clearly true.

Joe W:  I worked in college to support myself as a bartender in college clubs
and bars for five years. Every year, I would come down with pneumonia,
upper-respiratory-tract infections, and would catch a colds at least three times
a year. I was out of breathe, could not play sports, and had terrible headaches
from my customers' cigarette smoke.  It has been over 10 years since I worked in
a bar and I rarely catch a cold and have never had another
upper-respiratory-track infections. I am 15 years older and my health is better
than when I was younger, because I was not forced to smoke other people's smoke.


Dennis S:  I have had to work as a Bartender and waiter before. I developed a
cough, flem, and know that it damaged my lungs.  Please help. Don't use the
excuse "but they don't have to work there" ...we do.  People who work in bars
deserve the same rights to a safe, smokefree workplace as everyone else

Linda A:  My husband and I own Paul & Jimmy's Restaurant on E. 18th Street. My
three children work with us and we have 12 employees.  The decision to have a
smoke free NYC should be one that focuses on the HEALTH of its workers not on
the wealth of the tobacco companies.  We all deserve to have the best chance of
a long life with our families. 

Eddie S:  I worked for many years in a smoky bar and put up with the tremendous
health hazards because of financial necessity.  Luckily I am no longer in that
position. Others are. Any attempt to pass a watered down version of the proposed
bill will only serve to endanger the health of workers who because of financial
necessity are forced to take jobs in these hazardous environments. 

Rare F:  Why should we have to work in a smoky environment while politicians and
others enjoy the comforts of clean air?  Should we die to make a living? Think
of our constant aggravation of burning eyes, struggling to breath and that awful
taste in the mouth.  Is this what is called double standard?

Jeffrey B:  Having previously worked in restaurants and bars for years, I can
unequivocally say that the discomfort experienced by the average non-smoking
customer in these establishments is nothing compared to the unexplainable
persistent cough, headache, burning sinuses and irritated eyes that workers can
experience after long periods of exposure to smoke-filled workspaces.


Anita F:  I work in a casino. The worst part of my job is the smoke. Some
players blow it in my face deliberately when they lose, others are just
thoughtless. At times I literally choke just to keep my job. I work with the
hope of securing my retirement. My fear is that I won't live long enough to reap
the rewards of my labor.



Barbara L:  After 9 years of a successful and lucrative career as a musician, I
was forced to give it all up due to chronic respiratory infections and
bronchitis that I suffered from over years of breathing secondhand smoke in
nightclubs and restaurants where I worked. This was a career I trained for my
entire life. I have never smoked myself, yet I have developed asthma from
breathing in secondhand smoke on the job



Tracey P:  As a former waitress and hostess of several popular restaurants, I
urge you to support legislation for a "smoke-free" environment. For all of the
years I HAD to do it, I felt sick and exhausted and at times angry and depressed
about even having to put myself in such a situation. I was literally sick every
night going home, not to mention everything I owned smelled like poison. And
that is exactly what it is - Poison. 



Mary S:  I work for a wonderful family, but they still allow smoking in the
break room in their business. In order for me to use the ladies room, I must go
through the break room. This is a dangerous situation, especially if you have to
take your breaks in this room.  Everyone deserves to breathe clean air while
working. 



Lisa B:  When I was young I worked in a bar.  At my physical checkup time, my
doctor said to "quit smoking" because my lungs didn't look good. Well, I didn't
smoke! I may still come down with a smoke related illness in my lifetime from
those jobs which paid my way through nursing school. I had no choice but to work
in places to afford a decent college. 

Evan D:  I was forced to give up lucrative work in the entertainment field due
to inability/lack of desire to breathe other's toxins, (second hand cigarette
smoke).  I strongly favor smokefree workplace legislation.

Patricia A:  I have been a smoker for nearly ten years. Moreover, I have worked
in restaurants and bars filled with smoke. My own smoking habits disgust me. And
what I loathe the most is that I am inflicting pain on people around me.  I'll
gladly give up smoking in bars, and so will other smokers. It's worth it. 

Alison J:  I have been a bartender in a nightclub for several years. 
Unfortunately I have suffered many negative consequences.  At the end of a
shift, my eyes are itchy, my skin is crawling, and I am congested.  It takes a
full day to recover.  However, I need a job that is flexible, because I am also
a local singer and performer.  I've heard a lot of people argue if bartenders
don't like the smoke, they can do something else, but it's not that simple. 
It's not about people's right to smoke; it's about people's right to breathe. 



Richard T:  Am I a bad person because I am a waiter and bartender?  What did I
do that is so wrong that I must decide between having a decent paying job that I
enjoy and sub­stantially increasing my risk of cancer and lung disease?  All I
want is the same right to a safe, smokefree workplace that millions of other
workers enjoy.  People who work in bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are good
people.  We deserve a safe, healthy, smokefree workplace too.



Sage B:  I am a waiter/bartender who has held jobs in restaurants for 14 years. 
I am highly resentful of secondhand smoke and feel people should not have that
right to affect others with their addictions.



Cynthia H:  I am an actor and work at temp jobs and restaurants when I'm not in
a show.  I suffer health issues from other people's smoke, such as sinus
problems, soar throat, and headaches.  Being trapped in a bar all night to make
money is a miserable experience.  It affects my health and my quality of
performance as an actor.



Donna M:  I was a waitress for many years while my babies were young, and then
as a single parent I became a bartender to earn extra money at night.  It became
necessary for me to quit working, because I was sick all the time from the
second-hand smoke.



Bill Moriarity (president of Local 802 - Associated Musicians of Greater New
York - which represents 10,000 professional musicians):  The health of all
workers is equally important.  No one should be allowed to make someone else
sick.  Unfortunately, most of our members have the choice of either working in a
smoke filled room or not working at all.



Ken W:  As a small club entertainer I have been deprived of employment because
my body cannot tolerate smoke.  Why do other workers deserve a smokefree
workplace and not me?



Gregory N:  I should have the right to work in a cancer-free environment. 
According to the NYC Department of Health, the average bartender breathes the
equivalent of half a pack of cigarettes a night.



Richard W:  At age forty two and employed full-time as a bartender at one of New
York's top hotel's for the past seven years, I want to stay at my present job. 
Why should I have to give up one of the best jobs I've ever had?



James D:  I have been a bartender for 17 years.  I love my job, mostly because I
love people and the freedom my job offers.  The only thing I hate is the smoke. 
Cigarettes kill, period.  Why are people permitted to kill me? 



Timmy C:  I'm a singer and musician who plays frequently in restaurants and
bars.  I care about my health and think it's dangerous and unfair that I should
have to be subjected to a risk of cancer and heart disease just to ply my trade.

 

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