PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Carmen Polanco, Hotel Worker, on Working Conditions in New York City Hotels
2:02:56
·
7 min
Carmen Polanco, a hotel worker in New York City, testified in support of the Safe Hotels Act (Intro 991-B). She shared her experiences working for a staffing agency, describing dangerous and exploitative working conditions including excessive workloads, unpaid overtime, exposure to hazardous materials, and fear of retaliation for speaking out.
- Polanco was required to clean up to 17 rooms per day, including 10 checkouts, without proper compensation for overtime.
- She was exposed to unsanitary conditions, including blood-stained bedding, without adequate protective equipment.
- The use of strong chemicals without proper training caused physical discomfort and safety concerns.
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:02:56
Okay.
2:02:59
My name is Carmen Polanco.
2:03:01
I'm a hotel's worker in New York City and I'm supporting the new law of secure hotels or say hotels.
2:03:09
I was working for the staffing agency called Star Staffing.
2:03:32
Okay.
2:03:35
When I was working for the staffing agency, started staffing, they overload work was very excessive.
2:03:43
I remember that in one day, they assigned me to clean completely even 15 to 17 hotel rooms.
2:03:52
And these 15 to 17 rooms include 10 different checkouts.
2:04:15
Some of these rooms, hotel rooms, they were very difficult to clean.
2:04:22
One day, I had to stay until very late in order to finish to clean these hotel rooms.
2:04:28
And the staffing agency refused to pay me for those extra hours I was cleaning.
2:04:56
Uh-huh.
2:04:57
Okay.
2:04:57
Stop it.
Julie Menin
2:04:57
There's an extra mic there if that's easier.
2:05:01
I think they both work if that's easier.
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:05:06
It's already on.
2:05:07
Right?
2:05:07
Thank you.
2:05:09
Sometimes what I was doing, I was introducing the car that they are supposed you're supposed to sign every time you're working in a hotel to check-in and to check out.
2:05:19
And after that, I was going back to the same hotel rooms I was cleaning, even that I already have punctured there.
2:05:27
But I was very afraid I didn't want to lose my job.
2:05:30
I knew that I needed to do this to maintain my work in the hotel room.
2:05:35
And I was clean in those rooms in the hotel.
2:06:01
Okay.
2:06:04
I was very afraid that I happened to complain or to talk to the hotel personnel about this.
2:06:11
What they will do, they will end in my work, and they will also fire me later on.
2:06:17
Okay.
2:06:18
Mhmm.
UNKNOWN
2:06:35
Okay.
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:06:44
I feel very insecure when I was working and this employment against the started staffing.
2:06:49
As you know, I was cleaning hotel rooms, the the the covers or the bev were full of blood, completely full of blood.
2:06:59
And instead to give me good clothes, they were giving me these very cheap clothes in order for me to clean these hotel bags.
2:07:07
And I was not protective from many germs or any diseases using this kind of instruments and using this kind of cheap clothes.
Julie Menin
2:07:14
Okay.
2:07:15
I'm just because the time is up, I'm gonna ask, you
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:07:17
know, almost spinning.
2:07:18
It's almost yeah.
2:07:19
Perfect.
2:07:19
Okay.
2:07:19
It's just, like, maybe 3 sentences on.
Julie Menin
2:07:21
It says
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:07:21
sorry about that.
Ilda Alvarez
2:07:22
No.
2:07:22
No.
2:07:22
You see
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:07:23
how some problem because of the glasses.
2:07:47
The hotel management told me that they were going to send the bed covers that were full of blah to a laundromat or to a laundry place in order to be washed, and after that, they will go into food and away.
2:08:02
I was very alarmed about this.
2:08:04
I was feeling very bad about the hotel guests or the hotel tools who were coming to the hotel that they were supposed to sleep in this base with covers that were full of blood.
2:08:15
Mhmm.
2:08:30
Okay.
2:08:32
The housekeepers were now well trained to manage these chemical products.
2:08:39
I ended cleaning these bathrooms with Clorox and with very strong chemicals.
2:08:46
And Joe will now believe that his chemicals will make him cry when I was using them.
UNKNOWN
2:09:02
Okay.
2:09:03
Okay.
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:09:09
The chemicals were touching my skin, and there were situations
Julie Menin
2:09:13
when I just had them.
2:09:14
Because we have to give everyone exact Oh, no.
2:09:17
No.
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:09:19
No.
2:09:22
And they were making me cry.
2:09:24
Right?
2:09:25
Every time and every day I was praying to God, right, that everything will be okay and I will not end up very badly because of this dangerous job.
2:09:35
This is the last sentence done.
UNKNOWN
2:09:50
For father or
Carmen Polanco (via Spanish Interpreter)
2:09:57
Okay.
2:09:57
This is LaSense.
2:09:59
I was very afraid that I will hurt myself in when I was doing the strange or maybe or or a mood man by mistake.
2:10:09
I was very afraid that will be a very dangerous, you know, injury that will happen because of this dang dangulous job.
2:10:17
Please, I ask you, and I beg you to approve this law for secure and safe hotels for hard work, Mister Ayyan.
2:10:27
And thank you for listening to my story.
