Urgent Situation:
Workers at Flex-N-Gate’s Guardian West
Plant in Urbana have been working together to form a union for many months now.
They are paid wages that keep them hovering at the poverty line, and often work
in dangerous conditions.
A group of workers at the plant who have stood up for change
at their workplace are facing another crisis.
Last weekend, Congolese families living
at the Continental Plaza and Stoneleigh Court apartment complexes simultaneously
received letters from their landlord Royse & Brinkmeyer Apartments stating
the company will not renew their leases.
The letter went onto say that the landlord has had less than
satisfactory experiences with these tenants. To our knowledge, every single
Congolese resident in these buildings will lose their lease.
No one else in the complex appears to have received a
similar letter. Altogether, 11 households will be affected when their leases expire
in the coming months. Seven of these apartments are occupied by workers at Flex-N-Gate,
including several who have spoken out publicly about the dangerous conditions
in the plant, which uses toxic chromium to manufacture truck bumpers.
We are asking members of the Champaign-Urbana community to take
action to
support these families.
The residents who received these letters were not behind on their
rent. They hadn’t received warnings for noise, for not maintaining their apartments
properly, or for anything else. They work hard, and go to school to improve
their English and advance their education.
Royse & Brinkmeyer’s actions will make it harder for
these members of our community to find affordable housing. Their actions amount
to discrimination against a group of people who are trying their best to build
a brighter future for themselves and their families.
Residents are in the process of filing fair housing complaints
with the appropriate agencies, but they need your help, too. Please take a
minuteto send an e-mail to Royse & Brinkmeyer demanding that they do the
right thing, and copy members of the Champaign Human Relations Commission.
It’s quick and easy:
Just go to the Justice at Flex N Gate Website [http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/5892/c/1363/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3695]
Please forward to others you think may want to get involved.
