TRSA Hosts Final Industry Town Hall of 2021

Posted December 10, 2021 at 1:32 pm



Roughly 45 executives from the linen, uniform and facility services industry recently participated in TRSA’s final Industrial/Uniform Town Hall of the year.

The Dec. 8. Zoom meeting kicked off with an update from TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci on the latest association news, including an update on patent-infringement litigation involving businesses in the linen, uniform and facility services industry.

Following Ricci’s presentation, TRSA’s Vice President of Government Relations Kevin Schwalb gave a briefing on the latest from Washington, DC, including:

  • The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) and its status as the vaccine mandate is currently tied up in the federal courts
  • Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and where that currently stands
  • OSHA’s Heat, Injury and Illness Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and comments that Schwalb will issue on behalf of the industry
  • Reusable stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare, and recent comments by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) on behalf of the linen, uniform and facility services industry and an upcoming meeting involving Schwalb and key staff members at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Ken Koepper, TRSA’s director of membership/industry outreach, closed the call with a presentation on the industrial market rebound and industrial wearer labor trends. To quantify potential for “new old” prospective uniform wearers in the industrial sector’s customer industries, Koepper presented results from the most recent ADP Research Institute report, which quantifies industries’ workforce growth monthly. Data presented to the roundtable indicated which industries’ job levels had returned to pre-COVID levels and how much others have to go to reach their former levels.

Following this report, participants were asked about this statistic in their businesses. Eight of the 12 operator members who answered said their workforces were at 100% or more; three said at least 95%; one said 90%-94%. Of the 13 supplier-partner respondents, seven said 100%+, four were at 95%-99% and one each indicated 70-79% and 85%-89%.

Of the 19 attendees (operators and supplier partners) who responded when asked about their companies’ reliance on temporary agency labor, 11 said their companies aren’t using any. Half of the other respondents said temps account for 5% or less of the workforce; the other half were split between 5%-10% and 10% or more.

Stay tuned to Textile Services Weekly for more roundtable opportunities in 2022.

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