Woodlawn Cemetery workers fight racism on the job

Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx features 400 beautifully maintained, serene and quiet acres. But for the 38 workers who maintain it, especially the Black and Latino workers, that serenity masked a pit of ugly racism until a group of workers, the “Band of Brothers,” started fighting back.

They are Latino and Black united in an unbreakable bond forged by oppression and struggle. Their names are not used here “due to the retaliation on the job that we continue to endure for standing up and speaking out.” This is what they say about the situation.

Years ago there were more than 100 workers. These workers were all white, as are all the managers. Cut after cut whittled down the numbers, speeding up and putting pressure on the workers. Safety was sacrificed. After some Black and Latino workers were hired, management lured some white workers into the boss’s game of blaming the new workers of color.

“Management and some white co-workers would humiliate and make us feel worthless, powerless. When I started, morale was low,” explained A. “The yard foreman was causing tension, and the company manipulated and pitted workers against each other. He’d use the N-word. It was systematic racism. Primary positions never went to people of color. It made me feel bad.

“We never had union meetings; men never spoke up. We went to the union (United Service Workers Local 74/811), which did nothing. We filed NLRB charges; nothing happened. Then other workers got hired and we united and became shop stewards.”

B explained: “When I started on the job, racial tensions were high. I felt very alone. This was caused by white foremen and management and some white workers, from the moment we arrived at work until we left. I tried to be polite to everyone, but when I would say good morning to the superintendent, he would glare, look me up and down, and say nothing. I had to swallow everything because I was on probation.

“The racist anti-Black and anti-Latino epithets continued. Workers of color were assigned the hardest jobs in the sun when the weather was 100 degrees. The management would ‘forget’ to bring us water.

“There are several indoor bathrooms at Woodlawn, but they segregated Blacks and Latinos to working where there was only a port-a-potty. Previously, field foremen would pick workers up and drive them to the bathrooms. But not for us. They would actually move the port-a-potty to an area where we were, making a disgusting mess.” A and B would not eat or drink, so that they wouldn’t need to go to the bathroom. “We would not let our dignity down. Harassment and surveillance was stepped up.” All the while Woodlawn denied the charges.

The Brothers knew they had to get help. They met an exceptional peoples’ attorney, Ramon Jimenez, who started working on their case and brought them to other struggles and organizations like 4 da South Bronx (fighting for community jobs at Yankee Stadium), the South Bronx Community Congress and the Bail Out the People Movement.

Petitions were circulated; the Brothers spoke at meetings as Jimenez confronted the management. A long fight for newspaper and radio coverage of the situation was increasingly successful.

While Woodlawn is supposedly a nonprofit organization, its management is a Wall Street “Who’s Who.” First they hired an “independent” company to investigate the charges of racism. After stalling for many months, the investigator issued a report denying racism. They refuse to make the actual report public.

On July 16 a militant demonstration was carried out at the Woodlawn Cemetery gates, bringing together many groups, religious leaders and the newly formed Freedom Party, including its candidate for governor, Charles Barron. It was a turning point. The management hired Rubenstein Public Relations, an ultra-expensive firm, to pretty up their racist image, which was now becoming well known.

Rubenstein Public Relations has represented former athletes and movie stars who were caught making racist, sexist comments in public. Its head is on the Real Estate Board of New York and represents several banks. Their advice is always the same: Admit nothing, but say you’ll do better.

On Aug. 2 the workers learned that the company had fired one of the most foul racist supervisors, supposedly not for racism but for poor work performance. As B explained, “We know this is a partial victory, but it is not enough. Just before firing Rocco they had been promoting him, all while we were telling them Rocco was using racial slurs.”

That same day, the company stated in a press release, “It was concluded that we can do better, and so we shall — immediately. ... Our Board believes we have an obligation to let our community know that we have responded to the challenge, and we have found ourselves in need of change.” The statement claims that they will “reconfigure” their supervisory personnel and have sensitivity training to prevent discriminatory actions.

B points out, however, that they threaten the workers in the same release: “They say they will have ‘far more rigorous documentation of work performance of ... employees.’ This is a threat to retaliate.”

B explains, “The cemetery management are the ambassadors of greed. The whip of oppression and hate is still upon us. They have the audacity to say Rocco was fired for job performance. It is an insult and slap in the face, and is, in fact, cosmetically covering up what the truth really is.”

The Brothers are continuing the fight against racism at Woodlawn. They want Robert Scheer, the superintendent, and Ed Markiewicz, head of Human Relations, fired because they are both personally guilty of racist actions, language and retaliation.

The Brothers are also committed to carrying out the struggle against safety violations, seniority violations and cutbacks on behalf of all their co-workers, and to building a fighting union.

Please sign their online petition at www.ipetitions.com/petition/fortheworkers/