Majority of Service Workers in ‘Black Belt’ Injured on the Job in 2022, Study Finds

879

A March 2023 survey by the Strategic Organizing Center found that 87 percent of 347 service workers polled in the US South were injured on the job in 2022, according to a report by People’s Dispatch.

The survey sampled workers from eleven Southern states in an area known as the “Black Belt,” which refers to states with “historically large Black populations.” The states included North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The survey also noted that service industry workers in the South are predominantly Black.

Most of those injured on the job were hurt by carrying or lifting items, being struck by falling items, getting cut on a sharp tool, or from heat-related illness due to broken air conditioners.

Around half of the respondents reported noticing unsafe conditions in their workplace and just under half reported facing harassment or violence. The Strategic Organizing Center reported that 70 percent of workers surveyed did not report harassment or violent behavior for fear of retaliation by their employers.

Workers organized under the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) filed a civil rights complaint against South Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (SC OSHA) for failing to protect Black workers from hazardous working conditions.

The USSW wrote in their federal complaint that “from 2018 to 2022, SC OSHA conducted no programmed inspections in the food/beverage and general merchandise industries, and only one such inspection in the food services and warehousing industries.”

On April 4, 2023, the USSW went on a one-day strike in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to expose unsafe working conditions in the service industry.

There has been minimal corporate coverage of the conflict between the USSW and the SC OSHA. Independent outlets, such as DC Report, have consistently paid more attention to this particular issue. In December 2023, AP News and Bloomberg both reported on another incident with the Service Employees International Union petitioning the federal government about South Carolina’s failure to protect its service workers, but the articles did not address the existing racial disparity.

Sources:

“87% of Service Workers in the US South Were Injured on the Job Last Year,” Peoples Dispatch, April 5, 2023.

Mike Fitts, “Striking Union Claims Black Workers Being Injured at SC Jobsites That Go Uninspected,” Post and Courier, April 4, 2023.

Student Researcher: Olivia Rosenberg (North Central College) 

Faculty Evaluator: Steve Macek (North Central College)

879

A March 2023 survey by the Strategic Organizing Center found that 87 percent of 347 service workers polled in the US South were injured on the job in 2022, according to a report by People’s Dispatch.

The survey sampled workers from eleven Southern states in an area known as the “Black Belt,” which refers to states with “historically large Black populations.” The states included North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The survey also noted that service industry workers in the South are predominantly Black.

Most of those injured on the job were hurt by carrying or lifting items, being struck by falling items, getting cut on a sharp tool, or from heat-related illness due to broken air conditioners.

Around half of the respondents reported noticing unsafe conditions in their workplace and just under half reported facing harassment or violence. The Strategic Organizing Center reported that 70 percent of workers surveyed did not report harassment or violent behavior for fear of retaliation by their employers.

Workers organized under the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) filed a civil rights complaint against South Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (SC OSHA) for failing to protect Black workers from hazardous working conditions.

The USSW wrote in their federal complaint that “from 2018 to 2022, SC OSHA conducted no programmed inspections in the food/beverage and general merchandise industries, and only one such inspection in the food services and warehousing industries.”

On April 4, 2023, the USSW went on a one-day strike in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to expose unsafe working conditions in the service industry.

There has been minimal corporate coverage of the conflict between the USSW and the SC OSHA. Independent outlets, such as DC Report, have consistently paid more attention to this particular issue. In December 2023, AP News and Bloomberg both reported on another incident with the Service Employees International Union petitioning the federal government about South Carolina’s failure to protect its service workers, but the articles did not address the existing racial disparity.

Sources:

“87% of Service Workers in the US South Were Injured on the Job Last Year,” Peoples Dispatch, April 5, 2023.

Mike Fitts, “Striking Union Claims Black Workers Being Injured at SC Jobsites That Go Uninspected,” Post and Courier, April 4, 2023.

Student Researcher: Olivia Rosenberg (North Central College) 

Faculty Evaluator: Steve Macek (North Central College)