Workers at Sodexo laundry plants are often pushed to meet high quotas of production when cleaning and processing laundry for contracted companies and hospitals.

For some Sodexo workers, risky quotas and pressure from management can cause dangerous environments, including overworking, exhaustion, skipping necessary safety procedures, and working through breaks that would otherwise keep them alert and help them do their job properly.

Cleveland, OH

Workers in Cleveland report that the difficulty of making management production quotas, like folding 500 blankets an hour, pressures them to do things that are unsafe, such as personally unjamming machines instead of stopping to call maintenance.

Anton Spencer, a Sodexo worker at a laundry plant in Cleveland, feels production standards are set too high in an environment where workers are supposed to be doing work with caution rather than speed. "Sometimes when I'm asked to do things that are really not my job to do, I'm looked at like I'm supposed to do it anyway," Anton says. He gets strains in his back from working too long and often works through his breaks. "I'm not sure if they're aware that [production quotas] are too hard to reach."

Pittsburgh, PA

Workers in Pittsburgh report similar problems with pressure from management to reach quotas. "It's hard to reach the required standard per hour due to insufficent equipment," says George Lang, a Sodexo laundry worker in Pittsburgh. "And with the pressures of hand-folding, sometimes we try to meet the standards of what a machine can do, but a human cannot keep up with a machine quota."

Buffalo, NY

Louis Marlon Jr., an employee at a Sodexo facility in Buffalo, says that managers stand over watch and push workers to the point of interference. "It makes you feel pretty much inadequate," he says, "as if we're not doing our jobs. You don't want to do your job with someone standing over your back all day. You do a better job if you're left alone."