|
|
Article: Glossed over: nail salon workers and cosmetic consequences.(CURRENTS)
- Article from:
- E Magazine
- Article date:
- May 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Earth Action Network, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
On winter nights the neon sign "Nail Boutique" glows on Hudson Street in New York City's West Village. The door is shut tight to keep out the cold. At closing time, the manager doles out the day's pay to her all-Chinese staff, including her husband, a manicurist. He makes a big show of thanking his wife for his wages, drawing laughs from the other employees. Of everyone there, her English is the best, but still not good. She's six months pregnant and her belly bulges underneath her apron. I ask her if she's worried for her baby being around all the fumes in the salon. She says she's not.
She is one of the estimated 155,000 people working in the U.S. as ...