Tuesday, December 11, 2007
PRIEST OPPOSES HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR RESTAURANT WORKERS
As each customer walked into Mort's Cigar Bar in Old Town on Monday night, the Rev. H Setter quickly opened a wooden box and held out a Chateau Real cigar.
"Are you here for the rally?" he'd asked each patron, dampened from the rain.
If the answer was "yes," he'd hand out a free cigar.
The priest at All Saints Catholic Church, Setter held to his promise to advocate for smokers' rights by holding a rally at Mort's. He plans to be there next Monday, too.
Read it all...
If you read the entire article, you will see that it is the priest's concern for his own event that is the primary fuel for his fire on this topic.
In all of the discussion about smoke-free environments, no one ever discusses the facility's employees and their right to a healthy workspace. It's as though they have no stake in the debate. Many restaurant workers are doing the job because it is the only job they can get that will pay enough to meet their bills. Many are college students who need tuition money. Most are not there because of a love for the work.
If our culture can insist on smoke-free air for other occupations, the same principle should apply to restaurant workers.
