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UPDATE: The Coalition for a Smoke-Free Chicago is really stepping up the campaign to help make Chicago smoke free. As you my have heard, last week the City Council's Health Committee unanimously passed the proposal to ban smoking in all indoor areas and it is up for a full council vote at the end of November. But the fight is not over. The Illinois Restaurant Association (who claims to be working in our interest) handed in a last-minute ordinance which they have asked the City Council to review. The ordinance allows for too many exemptions and will create such an uneven playing field for establishments it will create the problem they claim to be trying to avoid which is loss of business and our jobs. We need to tell the Aldermen of Chicago that we - as restaurant, bar, hotel and food service employees - want a 100% comprehensive smoking ban in Chicago. This is the only we can guarantee our health and jobs.
This petition is intended for restaurant, bar, and hotel employees in Chicago who support the proposed ban on smoking in our work places. Your signature on this petition is not only a show of support for the proposed ban but a voice against the Illinois Restaurant Association and the Heartland Institute, the major opponents of the ban. They say they represent us, they say we want to work in smoke filled rooms, they say we’ll lose money and our jobs, they tell us it’s in our best interest to be unhealthy, but their scare tactics just don’t add up. Now it’s time to tell them what we, the industry workers, really want – A SMOKE FREE CHICAGO.
Our goal is to collect a minimum of 1000 signatures from industry employees. These signatures will be delivered to the Alderman of Chicago in a show of support for the smoking ban.
NO LOSS OF BUSINESS OR MONEY
The largest argument offered by opponents of the ban, and the most concerning to us, is the potential loss of business and money. Opponents of the ban have stated many times that this ban will lead to a decrease in business and even closures. A valid argument, but one which is very much location based. In suburban areas, with a limited amount of bars and where customers typically drive to their destinations to begin with, banning smoking in one town will lead to smokers driving in a different direction to a town which allows smoking. This was the case with Wilmette. Yet in larger cities, such as New York and Chicago, this argument does not hold up. Everyone in Chicago is familiar with their neighborhood bars- bars which most of us and our customers get to by walking, taking a train or a cab. With the already well-established tendencies to shy away from “the suburbs,” it is highly unlikely any Chicagoan will pack up and head for the suburbs when they have an urge for a drink.
As reported in the New York times on February 6, 2005, almost two years after the smoking ban in that city went into affect, “A review of city statistics, as well as interviews last week with dozens of bar patrons, workers and owners, found that the ban has not had the crushing effect on New York's economic, cultural and political landscapes predicted by many of its opponents…Employment in restaurants and bars, one indicator of the city's service economy, has risen slightly since the ban went into effect, as has the number of restaurant permits requested and held.”
The Boston Globe on May 15, 2005 reports similar findings in Massachusetts after a review of a state-wide smoking ban in that state, “Last month researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health released a report claiming that despite the fears of restaurant and bar owners the state-wide smoking ban instituted last July had not put a damper on business. According to their review of state records, tax collections on meals at Massachusetts restaurants, bars, and nightclubs rose about 9 percent (adjusted for inflation) in the first six months after the ban went into effect.”
NO NEW REGULATORS
The next largest argument aimed against the ban is the idea that the government does not have the right to impose its will on business owners. To say that the government cannot come into a place of business and regulate a legal substance is ridiculous. Every nuance of a restaurant including food, liquor, structure, seating, buying and selling procedures, and waste disposal are all heavily regulated by the city. They are regulated to protect the health of customers and the general welfare of the city. If the amount of toxins and carcinogens which are in a cigarette were to be regularly spilled into communal drinking water, there would be immediate regulation to stop it. Yet cigarette smoke with its toxins is allowed into the breathing air. By regulating the use of a legal substance in a public venue - like we do with liquor - we are not letting in some unknown destroyer of democracy.
HEALTH EFFECTS
The American Lung Association and other anti-smoking groups have worked hard to warn us of the dangers of second hand smoke. The tobacco industry has worked hard to disprove or discredit any findings that second hand smoke may cause lung cancer and therefore smoking should be allowed to continue in public venues. This argument assumes the ridiculous position that lung cancer and its imminent fatalities is the only health issue we should worry about. Second hand smoke causes other, less severe but unwanted, complications such as sore throats, lingering headaches, breathing problems and a general feeling of ill health. These should not be a result of any job.
OUR VOICE
We have heard the suggestion that if we do not like smoke we should just find another job Most of us like our jobs and want to stay where we are. As long as smoking in bars and restaurants continues, those establishments will allow smoking so there is little choice for another workplace.
We speak as both employees and customers. We speak as one of the last few employees to not be given the right to have a smoke free work place. We speak as customers who want to enjoy a drink in a local bar and not walk home smelling like an ashtray. We speak as the voice of our customers, who visit Chicago from other cities and are dismayed by the amount of smoke in our bars and restaurants. We speak for our lost customers who have stopped spending as much time and money in bars due to smoke.
This is our voice, this is our choice, this is our health. |
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this petition is sponsored and promoted by employees of Chicago's restaurants and bars. |
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