Credit: (Laundry Workers Center)
The days at the laundromat in Edison were long and busy for Gaudencia Ramirez.
During an eight-hour shift, Ramirez said she would wash about 200 pounds of laundry, clean bathrooms, sweep floors and attend to the needs of customers. When she picked up an overnight shift with no overtime pay, Ramirez sometimes had to contend with unruly customers who were drunk and belligerent.
When Ramirez, who emigrated from Mexico 29 years ago, lost her job two years ago, she said she was not given notice or a severance package after 11 years at the same laundromat.
“It hurt me, and I feel bad, because I just don’t think it was fair,‘’ said Ramirez, who now works at another laundromat. “As immigrants, we feel like we can’t say anything, and we just swallow the anger.”