FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, July 2nd, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union requests Governor Sisolak place the “Adolfo Fernandez Bill” on the agenda for the upcoming NVLEG 2020 special session
Las Vegas, NV – Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union sent a letter today (Thursday, July 2nd, 2020) to Governor Sisolak and Nevada Legislators requesting the Culinary Union’s Adolfo Fernandez Bill be placed on the agenda for the upcoming NVLEG 2020 special session.
The Adolfo Fernandez Bill addresses public health and would mandate: Enhanced cleaning procedures, enforce social distancing, free testing for all workers before going back to work or those that have been exposed to COVID-19, temperature-checks for workers, detailed plans of action for when a worker contracts COVID-19 or is exposed to someone with the virus, and enhanced safety training for all employees.
Here is a link to the letter that was sent to Governor Sisolak. The text of the letter is below.
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From Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union:
Dear Governor Sisolak,
Last week, the Culinary Union family suffered a painful loss when our union brother, Adolfo Fernandez, contracted COVID-19 after working as a utility porter on the Las Vegas Strip and passed away.
Adolfo’s daughter, Irma, recently shared some reflections of her father: “My father was an amazing hard-working man. Before he went back to work, he was tested negative for COVID-19. My father would tell me every day ‘I’m gonna get sick - the company is not keeping us safe.’ He would constantly tell me how stressed out he was. He would call me on his break all the time to tell me about what was going on and how he was feeling. He would say that he didn’t want to go back to work, but he had to because he needed to financially support his family. My father always fought for justice and for his coworkers to be respected at work, but now he was taken away to be in heaven. During the last three-days of his life, my dad told me that his last wish was that he wanted justice and better safety precautions for workers.”
19 Culinary Union members and/or their family members have died due to COVID-19 since March 1st 2020. Our state can’t afford to lose one more hotel and casino worker during this pandemic, which is why we write you today. Last week, you made the difficult, but right decision to mandate masks in public places. It is a great first step to slow the spread of COVID-19, but we believe more work must be done to fully protect Nevada’s workers and guests to ensure a full economic recovery.
Nevada has seen a concerning rise of positive tests and hospitalizations in the last few weeks. It’s even more troubling that COVID-19 in Nevada is disproportionally impacting communities of color. As of July 1st, over 40% of positive COVID-19 cases were from the Latinx community, which is extremely concerning for the Culinary Union as 54% of members we represent are Latinx. These statistics combined with the sudden death of Adolfo Fernandez means that hotel and casino workers are working in fear every day. Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it. This is an incredible burden that no worker should have to deal with – and this fear is not just limited to Culinary Union members. All hotel and casino workers – union and non-union throughout the state are living with this same fear each day they go to work.
The Culinary Union believes that there are steps that can be taken to alleviate these fears and keep Nevada’s workers and guests safe. We have drafted and submitted to your office the Adolfo Fernandez Bill that workers are requesting be placed on the agenda for the upcoming Special Legislative Session. The Adolfo Fernandez Bill addresses public health and would mandate: Enhanced cleaning procedures, enforce social distancing, free testing for all workers before going back to work or those that have been exposed to COVID-19, temperature-checks for workers, detailed plans of action for when a worker contracts COVID-19 or is exposed to someone with the virus, and enhanced safety training for all employees.
In these uncertain times, it is imperative that we protect Nevada’s workers, tourists, and economy. Another economic shutdown could have disastrous effects on our economy which would make recovery even harder. We believe that the measures in the Adolfo Fernandez Bill would put Nevada on the path towards a full economic recovery.
The Culinary Union is committed to ensuring that we don’t lose one more hotel and casino worker – so we ask you to make the Adolfo Fernandez Bill a part of the upcoming special session.
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ABOUT CULINARY UNION:
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.
The Culinary Union has a diverse membership -- approximately 55% women, 54% Latinx, 19% White, 15% Asian, 10% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples — and consists of guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting for fair wages, job security, and good health benefits for workers in Nevada for 85 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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