Victor Diaz, 42, did not come home from work Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007. He died at North East Linen’s Linden NJ plant. His funeral mass and burial are set for Thursday morning. Already, his name, and that of his friend and co-worker, Carlos Diaz, 41, have slipped from the headlines and from even the back pages of newspapers. Two hard-working guys have died long before their time. To read a short note in memory of Victor Diaz from his son, click here.
Victor & Carlos Diaz died, you may recall, cleaning out what’s been described as a 20,000-gallon dilution tank containing dry cleaning chemicals. They had no filter-masks or supplied oxygen in the confined workspace, no one was watching to see if they got into trouble. They had no harnesses which could have been used to haul them to safety. There was no rescue team on-site. Initial responders couldn’t enter the space because of fumes and it was hours after a supervisor noticed one of the men down that haz-mat crews were finally able to get the bodies out of the tank.
Wilfredo Laracuent – Vice President of Unite-Here and Manger of the Laundry Workers’ Joint Board said:
†we are enraged by this preventable and senseless loss of human life,†Wilfredo Larancuent, UNITE HERE’s international vice president, said in a statement. “This tragedy is no accident. It is an irresponsible act of indifference to worker safety by North East Linen. “Workers at the company have been fighting for safer jobs, better conditions and a voice at work for over a year†in the face of anti-union threats, he continued. “When North East Linen employees work in fear and without union protection, they are at the mercy of their employer’s failure to provide a safe workplace.
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Eric Frumin, Director of Health and Safety, UNITE HERE:
We call on OSHA to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this tragedy and hold North East Linen responsible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
There’s no excuse for two workers to be found dead, without the required protective equipment, without a safe way out, and without a way to be safely rescued. Tanks and other confined spaces are among the most lethal conditions workers can be exposed to. That’s why there are clear and detailed standards for how to operate safely in those cases.
North East Linen knew it had a responsibility to protect workers from lethal confined space hazards. Just last year, OSHA cited the company's sister plant in New Haven for violating part of the OSHA standard on lethal confined space hazards. If the standard had been fully implemented at North East Linen, these workers would probably be alive today. Victor and Carlos Diaz’s deaths reveal what happens when a company puts workers’ lives second to greed. It’s time for North East Linen to change its priorities.
I’ve called North East Linen, tried to get through to them through their attorneys, but so far they have no comment. The family of Victor Diaz said they have heard no word from North East and its owners – not even “I’m sorry.†I imagine the company owners are preparing defenses and excuses, checking the insurance policy, cursing workers and unions. Since they knew of the confined space protocols, how will they explain themselves?
In addition to the OSHA charges, referred by above, by UNITE-HERE, the National Labor Relations Board has issued formal complaints against North East Linen for interfering with workers' rights to organize. These complaints are scheduled for trial in January, I am informed. North East Linen and it's principal, John Ryan, still stand by silently.
Suzanne C. Russell writing for the Home News Journal (Gannett) added more:
(Linden, NJ, Police) Lieutenant Raymond Tyra said the men were power washing the inside of a tank that receives all the used cleaning fluids from the laundry operation. Sulfuric acid is added to the used cleaning fluids to break down the chemicals that are then diluted before entering the sewerage system.
Tyra said the cleaning was prompted by a complaint from the Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority.
Gary Fare, Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority executive director, said the laundry company's flow-measuring device was inaccurate and needed to be repositioned. He was unsure if the device is located in that tank.
Tyra said the laundry company drained the tank for the men to clean it using a power washing system that further sprayed the moisture and fumes in the tank.
The job was not the men's usual assignment, Tyra said.
Carlos Diaz, who was hired by the company in July 2006, was a laborer, and Victor Diaz, hired in January, was a truck driver. The men are not related, police said.
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