LETTER: Why Not Smoke-Free?

Publication Date: 2005-05-01

• Author:JOSLYN WILLIAMS
• Publication:The Washington Post

A few weeks ago, six Democrats on the D.C. Council introduced legislation that would make all of the District's workplaces, including restaurants and bars, smoke-free. If enacted, this law would mean that the more than 20,000 hospitality workers in this town would no longer be subjected day in and day out to a Class A carcinogen . . .

So why would anyone oppose it? We, as advocates for labor rights and health, would like to ask that question of D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), who opposed such legislation two years ago and is in a position to kill this bill if it goes to her committee. Perhaps, if she does intend to kill the bill, she could also explain to 20,000 hospitality workers why their health doesn't seem to matter.

JOSLYN WILLIAMS
President
Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO