NYC Cleaners’ Union Votes To Authorize Strike If Necessary; Unions Protest Economic Conditions

December 1, 2011 10:48 PM

Cleaning union workers protest in Herald Square. (credit: Marla Diamond, WCBS 880)

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A New York City cleaners union voted Thursday to authorize a strike, if necessary, that could potentially affect 1,500 commercial office buildings in the city.

Thousands of office cleaners and commercials building workers with the 32BJ Service Employees International Union voted to allow their bargaining committee to call a strike. That strike could involve about 22,000 workers if there is a failure to reach a new contract by 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2012.

Cleaning union workers marched Thursday afternoon from 34th Street to Union Square in opposition to a proposed wage and benefit structure that the union says is “aimed at creating a lower second class of workers.”

The march was a part of a larger protest organized by the New York Central Labor Council, 1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer reported.

32BJ Had One Of The Largest Rally Turnouts. 1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer Reports.

CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis was live on the scene as workers marched on Broadway. Various union groups participated in the march, including healthcare workers and teachers. Even some Occupy Wall Street members joined the protest.

Demonstrators said they wanted to get the attention of government and corporate leaders to create more jobs.

“It’s an injustice what’s happening to the families all over the world. In this country, that they can’t feed their children, that children are not being educated, that they’re dumbing America down by taking money away from the city schools,” one woman told Dennis.

“We have people making all this money and we have millions out of work and it’s not fair. We’re not taking it no more,” said another woman.

“The real estate industry’s demands to roll back the wage and benefit standards of lower middle class workers are unacceptable,” Mike Fishman, president of the union, said in a statement. “Today’s strike vote shows we are determined to keep our city a place that working families can afford to call home.”

The union says that is against the proposal because it would be things harder for current and new workers to make a living in New York City.

“A two-tier wage system would be a giant leap backward for all workers because it drives down wages and benefits for years to come,” Fishman said. “The industry’s sole purpose in creating a second tier of workers is to replace the first tier with lower paid workers.”

Marchers Said They Want Justice. WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond Reports

The union says that the highest rate for its cleaners is $22.65 per hour, which amounts to about $47,000 annually. That is a number that the union says is “significantly less than the household income that independent researchers have shown is necessary to support a family of four.”

“Nobody wants a strike — least of all the men and women who keep New York City’s office buildings clean, but we must prepare for one if building owners insist on taking us down that path,” Fishman said.

NYC Cleaners Union Votes To Authorize Strike If Necessary; Unions Protest Economic Conditions

(credit: Malgorzata Zielinska)

Do you think the workers will go on strike? Share your thoughts in the comments section below…

BillV

Half of the protesters were disappointed when they arrived only to find out 32BJ meant something entirely different than what they pictured.
BillV

$47,000??? Can anyone recommend a good Janitorial Arts College? I think I went down the wrong path.
Massimo Deportado

Janitorial work?

Millions of American would LOVE to be working and these spoiled little snots have the nerve to threaten a strike?

GO FOR IT. Reap the whirlwind……

lonespectator

There Janitors. It’s not a career, I’ts an entry level job. Fire them all, stop unionisation of low-end jobs, and hire students and elderly

dave david

well,i’m a non union janitor for 23 years.one might call that a career.22.65 is more than i make but NY is an expensive town.I wonder if that is really the whole story or if there is overtime and other benefits that factor in which can add a lot to the total package.

Occupy commercials building or is that commercial buildings

“Thousands of office cleaners and commercials building workers with the 32BJ Service Employees International Union voted to allow their bargaining committee to call a strike. “
Uh oh, there goes the neighborhood

I am heading to NY. I see 22,000 jobs opening up! It would be nice to have a regular gig again!
Mike Alright

Please do strike! I would enjoy seeing NYkers misery.

BillV

Yeah, I would like to see those commercial buildings make do with unskilled replacement janitors. The 2 hours of training and whatnot, it’s gonna be pure hell.

keith

I got a wonderful idea… let’s privatize this job by putting it out to bid and these same people can interview with the new company for half the pay and bennies they have now!

What an eye opener for Union members on how much the “real world” pays for talentless labor and yes I once did janitorial work for a few years and it doesn’t take “einstein” to do it either.
BigBoa

Don’t you know?

They’re supposed to be making as much as the CEOs do….

After all, they push a mop and empty cans. Certainly they carry as much responsibility as the CEOs do. Odd thing though…. The occupiers want a “guaranteed wage” of $20 an hour. So these guys are already making more than that. On top of it all, these kooks not only want more money, they demand “more jobs”. You KNOW that isn’t because they’re concerned for their “fellow man”…. They want more workers so THEY can do LESS for their increase in pay…..

And then wonder why people think they’re nuts……
Kelvin

The Occupy cretins, who trash everywhere they go, defecating and urinating all over everything supporting the janitors?
Must be how OWS thanks others for cleaning up the filth they leave behind.
Do you think perhaps the OWS (Out of Work Slobs) who protested in Zucotti Park will line up to fill the janitors jobs?
Not for a NY minute.
Crosscut

Replace them all with illegals. They’d probably do a better job for a lot less money.
US provoked accident of 911

Yeah I know, this is another terror alert. Gothamites are such parasites. Take this jumbo jet of trillion dollar graft and shove it.
slickzip

Let them go out on strike and see who has the guts to see how long they will go without a pay check ?
MALACHI

until I started working 2 jobs, they made way more than me. These f*cking people are a joke. You dont the job you do? Get a new one and shut the f*ck up!!!!!!!!!! 22.85 AN HOUR AND THEY ARE BITCHING???? LMAO
rje

47,000 a year, to mop floors. i hope they go on strike. then every single one of them can be replaced by non-union workers.
SJMAus

Where did we suddenly get this notion that no matter how unskilled your job, that you must be paid enough to buy a house, support a family of 4 etc? I’m sorry, but unless you graduate from high school and get some skills, you may have to work more than one job
John

Huh?
HabibiColon

They are too strong. 32bj will win. Building owners are no different than wall street. They don’t want to share the wealth. They could always take their cleaning in house like the hotels do. The cleaners do make an unfair wage but not in the city, the cleaners in westchester, conn, ect that make 12.50 an hour. They almost all have to work two jobs to make a living. That’s where the focus should be. In the city you have cleaners that make more than their managers with twice as good benefits.
Mr. Fightback

Remember what Pete Seeger once sang; “Which side are you on?” Obviously, some people are taken in by the one-tenth of 1% wealthy who prefer you attack your fellow workers instead of the people who profit from our stress.

Canof Sand

“the people who profit from our stress”
You mean… your EMPLOYER? The people without which you wouldn’t be EMPLOYED? Poor? Destitute? The ones ACTUALLY fighting UNEMPLOYMENT in this country? That’s how you characterize them? Screw you.

LiberalsRDopes

Unions, where business goes to die…..
Glory Knott

Just hire illegal Africans who are now in nyc business aka ..”the new Mexicans”
and they don’t complain either.
Alll Dummies

Here we go again – bunch of dummies bashing the unions – Unions are the only Honest things left in this country today – I am a union electrical worker and I do make a fair salary but most important I am held accountable – I work for a private contractor and I need to produce a certain amount EVERYDAY or i get fired – WOW what a concept — do not look at how much I make look to see if I take RESPONSIBLITY for myself – anyone posting should post what they do for a living and how much they make before they bash someone else

Sonny V.

Note: The Union fails to mention the costs of HEALTH BENEFITS, vacations, sick pay, holiday pay, clinic pay and floating holiday pay. Each 32BJ member gets 10 sick days per year. The TRUE cost for EACH 32BJ member is about $77,000 per year. Most of the members perform work that you would call unskilled: Mopping floors, shoveling snow, removing trash. Also, the Union just moved into multi million dollar headquarters in Chelsea.

Sonny V.

But they don’t deserve MORE than what they are getting now! Where else in this country does someone who mops floors earn over $75k a year? I am sure a lot of people would ask to work those jobs for less of what they are getting now.

abt4u

Sonny V – My hope is that the union workers go on strike and then get canned, immediately. There are thousands of people (all legal US citizens) who would love to be employed making 1/2 that amount.

abt4u

I would rather you look for another job that has what you are looking for. Even if it means moving to another city to accomplish this.

What is it with this term “rich”, anyway? What does that even mean? If I make $40K a year, but have lived well within my means for decades, then I am likely someone who you would refer to as “rich”.
dave david

thanks for putting this up.i had a feeling there was more to this story than 22.65

Tommy

I OWN a Union flooring company and my Unionized employees make more than I make with their ridiculous wages and benefit packages. $45/hr + $28/hr in benefits = $73/hr x 40hrs x 50 weeks = $146,000 per year for a guy laying floors. If you think that is reasonable you are out of your mind. Unions are the most corrupt organizations in this country – look how many business agents are in jail for racketeering, organized crime ties, bribery, tax evasion, etc.
archer

Unions are destroying this country, how much would a job that you work on cost if it was done by a non union company? Do have any idea how much union wages increase the cost of a car? How about 8,000 dollars…………………….. No, Ill stick to non union shops where pedophiles, drug addicts, and criminals are not protected by being in the union…………………..
shempus

pipe down, left a r d union hack. It’s not what you make, it’s how you make it, and how much whining you do. There is no RIGHT to make any certain amount just because you think it’s ‘fair’. Go back to work now.
unionhunter

Alll Dummies? You have certainly picked the right moniker. The unions are the farthest thing from honest there can be. I know because my paycheck is raped by a teacher union every month. If they were honest they would be at-will meaning they don’t force workers to pay them regardless of whether you want to have anything to do with them or not. Freedom is honest and unions hate freedom otherwise they’d allow all workers the freedom to choose to join and pay or NOT. You are a joke!

freecheese

Maybe it might be difficult to do so, or perhaps you’re too late in life. I would suggest that you move to a right-to-work state. You don’t have to belong to a union.
My daughter-in-law has a PhEd and she is happy as can be. OBTW. All of our right-to-work states are in the South.

Union For Dummies

Unions Honest? You can type that with a straight face?

I worked in the Union for 6 years and it was a waste of money. The only ones that get anything from the union are the trouble makers.

You say you are held accountable. So what about teachers union, are they accountable for the poor education in this country. Do they receive a deduction in pay for every student that fails? You are full of it. You know as well as everyone else on here that your boss can not up and fire you for not filling your “quota”. Your employer would have to fill out a stacks of paper work and fight your union and he’d more than likely loose even though you yourself knew you weren’t doing your job.

Certified Professional Medical Coder = $17hr. zero sick time and two weeks vacation. I can guarantee there’s more skill in medical coding than pushing a mop.
BILL MCNEAL

YOU WORK FOR A UNION CONTRACTOR WHO IS FORSED TO PAY PREVALING WAGE (I MITE OF MISED SPELLED IT) THEM ME ONE THING WHEN YOU GET PAID (MORE THEN THE NEXT WIRE PULLER) IS THE WIRE YOU PULL AND THE LIGHTS YOU GUYS PUT IN ANY BETTER THEN THE NON UNION GUYS JOB??? ARE THE LIGHTS ANY BRITER THE THE OTHER GUYS??NO !!!REMEMBER;OBAMA OR AMERICA YOU CAN;T HAVE BOTH!!! UNDER WORKED /OVER PAID!!!F#@$%^K THE UNIONS!!!!
BILL MCNEAL

HAY READ ALL THE REPLY’S ! DEAD WOOD THATS WHAT THE GOV.AND THE UNIONS HAVE DONE TO THE AMERICAN WORKES TODAY YOU BECOME REAL DEAD WOOD AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT, TRY TO WORK IN THE REAL WORLD AFTER WORKING FOE A UNION, YOU WON’T MAKE IT! WE NEED MORE RIGHT TO WORK STATES!!! REMEMBER OBAMA OR AMERICA YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH!!!

walter

unions are destroying the economy and country

Guenevere Dean

Union mebership is less than 8% of the toal work force. I think the unorganized 92% is responsible for all the economic destruction.

Union For Dummies

I think it’s the 100% in congress that are responsible for the economic destructions. They allow the 8% the screw the 92%.
Canof Sand

Yet you’re probably one of the people attacking the 1% — but how can THEY be responsible for anything when obviously they’re a minority??!!!1111! You can’t even be consistent with your own ridiculously stupid faux logic.
BILL MCNEAL

HAY DEAN, DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ALL THE CITY GOV. UNION WORKERS?THE 2% IS REALY APPROX 12%REMEMBER “OBAMA OR AMERICA YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH” VOTE THE M%%$@##%^KER OUT!!!!!!!

BILL MCNEAL

WALTER , THIS SHOULD BE YOUR 2012 CALL TO ARMS; “OBAMA OR AMERICA YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH” IF YOU FEEL THE SAME PASS IT ON TO A FRIEND AND SO ON AND SO ON,WE GOOD AMERICANS NEED TO STOP ALL UN AMERICAN B/S…

Tommy

In a household of 4 there should be 2 parents and 2 children. If both parents are “low wage” cleaners at $47,000 per year (plus free benefits) that is a total of $94,000 (plus free healthcare, pension, etc.). If you cannot live on that you need to have your head examined. Yes, I agree that $47,000 is not enough. 1 parent cannot stay home and earn no income – welcome to America in the 21st century – both parents need to work.

Sonny V

Note: The Union fails to mention the costs of HEALTH BENEFITS, vacations, sick pay, holiday pay, clinic pay and floating holiday pay. Each 32BJ member gets 10 sick days per year. The TRUE cost for EACH 32BJ member is about $77,000 per year.

Guenevere Dean

Hand the office workers a toilet scrubber. Priceless.

ma ma mommy

should strike after you get your christmas tips.
NOT A JOKE!

UNIONS ARE ALL KNOWN TO BE GREEDY PEOPLE…

I HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING MY FAMILY OF FOUR FOR SEVEN YEARS ON AN ANNUAL FAMILY INCOME OF $10,000.00 DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT A JOKE!

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NYC Cleaners’ Union Votes To Authorize Strike If Necessary; Unions Protest Economic Conditions

December 1, 2011 10:48 PM

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