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 B: 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.
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
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
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
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.
