I was minding my business the other day walking around midtown Manhattan, dodging photo taking tourists gawking at all the Christmas windows decorations. By the way, Macy’s Herald Square- a bit disappointing this year. Anyway, I came across this giant rat outside Victoria’s Secret.
First time I saw one of these giant inflatable rats I had no idea what was going on. I was shocked for a second then shrugged it off as some crazy New York City phenomenon as most New Yorkers do when we see crazy things on the streets.
Later on I learned these rats had a connection to labor and employee strikes. This particular rat was inflated outside of the mega Victoria’s Secret on 34th Street because Laborer’s Local 78 claims the underwear retailer’s location has put their employees in danger.
This song isn’t a rap song and no it’s not about rats. You might remember Phantom Planet as the band that sang that song about California in the opener for the show The OC. This song is much harder and I like this one more. Sometimes management does act like Big Brats though.
They claim Victoria’s Secret has hired “a substandard company to perform DEADLY ASBESTOS ABATEMENT” and that this company “destroys industry standards with its disregard for its workers, the public and the environment.”
Their flyer also said:
“Exposure to Asbestos Causes Cancer–One Fiber Is All It Takes”
Sometimes I think these days people don’t bother much with unions, partly out of all of their faults and party out of ignorance. I think when they bring up issues about potential dangers to the public we should at least consider what they’ve brought up.
This union wasn’t advocating a boycott of Victoria’s Secret, but trying to encourage people to call a specific person, I gather a Victoria’s Secret executive of some sort, and ask that only “responsible contractors” be hired “for this hazardous work.”
This Christmas I hope people would consider not only gifts and bargains but the people who get those gifts to you and the people on the sidewalk with destinations that are different from your own.
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