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…

Jim Charles

What do you pay in dues each month to SEIU? Over a lifetime?

Would you be better off if you had taken that money and gone to school and gone something different. I live in a large city in the south and people make that much cleaning buildings and the cost of living and aggravation is half of what NYC is.

Wake up people.

I P Standing

yes if you had “gone something different” you must be a public school grad
Richard

How many actually speak English?
picolo

Let them strike and then fire them. smart union reps striking during the worst financial crisis of this and the last century.
Mike

I am sure there are a ton of unemployed people who could only dream about earning $22.65 an hour to clean buildings.

Jigs

Fire them and hire people who will actually DO something! I was at the JFK terminal and I was perfectly disgusted with the mess! Three janitors sat and talked together and ignored trash laying all over the place. All the toilets were clogged in the restroom, and the place was totally filthy (and stank to high heaven). The janitors seemed oblivious to it all. It looked like some comedy routine, except it was real life New York!

Regulas

Agree, and ban all public sector union. If you are paid by tax dollars, NO Union.

NCT

Exactly! Exactly! Exactly!
Neal

Dolt. It’s not a public sector.

Rod Anders

What line do I stand in to get one of those strikers’ jobs?
bigjet

Go on strike you get fired. Hire someone new. NEXT.

Barry A Kenyan

You sir are correct

Linda Green

Well Glory Bee. The greedy have woke up but would probably not get rid of their good wages they recieve at the cost of American Families. In order for these greedy unions to make their great pay taxes have to be paid and down the line. Americans suffer for the greedy. Get rid of all unions. Like they don’t know what is going on. Liars all. Rank these people right up there with Obama and Holder.
wallace1303

All you had to do is see the SEIU was involved and you just knew this so-called story was liberal propaganda.
gavin

Oh no! Now who won’t clean?
Clearhead56

The strike is probably protesting the cleanup necessary after the HF (human filth) OWSers(obnoxious worthless simpletons) have been driven back to their mothers’ basements. We should feel for them — having the job of cleaning up after those bums. 99% ers means they spend 99% of their time whining and disrupting our Country. Thank goodness they only represent maybe 1% of our population.
forrest

If they strike will anyone notice? How about we just fire these lazy and overcompensated losers, ban all public employee unions, and hire people who are actually wiling to work for a reasonable wage.
mikey

Unions=Greed. They no longer are needed. They exist to rip off workers, give $$$ to Demos and give fat salaries to the leaders. They are like pigs at an endless trough and should be treated as such using cattle prods so they don’t beat up old people in wheel chairs.
Mr. R

NYC is the cesspool of America. Avoid the place!!! Janitors whining about a $47,999 salary….give me a break! Lazy, useless, money-grubbing, SEIU clowns…

Rogueco

$48k a year is apparently too low…. but what about including the benefits recieved? That $48k is thiers to keep – no need to pay out of pocket for full coverage health insurance or a fat pension. Those extra benefits are probably worth about $20k/year. So $68k in compensation is STILL not good enough for an unskilled position?

Rita Ippolito

more Union GREED…these guys already make out very well….

check it out…

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/School-Janitors-Can-Earn-More-Teachers-120023614.html

when will it end…more taxes to pay for 100K janitors????

retphxfire

More American ignorance. Rita, instead of calling out the unions, how about the likes of Trump etal who make millions on their buildings, but like all other ignorant and ungrateful people, you condemn those who are being asked to take less.

Marto

LOL, more liberal ignorance. The likes of Trump et al don’t make millions, they EARN millions. If I were a janitor pulling in $50k a year off the tax payers back, I would shut my no-skills azz and get back to work before somebody figured out how overpaid I was…….
paul smith

As a math teacher with a masters degree in Math I currently make $35,000 in my school district in Colorado. I feel pretty well compensated. I guess I should have not wasted my time in working hard in High school, College, and Grad school. I could have stopped studying in the 6th grade and started cleaning floors in NYC. Let’s let the market decide wages.

MikeC711

Paul, It is somewhat rare for a teacher to be a free-market person … but kudos for not believing the OWS/union line. I have a cousin in PA who worked in a state hospital probably making only about $50K after 30 years but … he retired at 48 (after 30 years) and will receive FULL salary + cost of living for the rest of his life. In a real market, that is an absurd benefit … but in a union shop in a union state … the taxPayers are stuck with it.

ConcernedNYCitizen

So if this data is accurate, http://www.unionfacts.com/lu/11661/SEIU/32/ the *average* employee of the union makes something like 30% more that the highest rate for a cleaner? No union members find that troublesome?

Average Total Compensation: $62,103.25
Total Employees: 398
Employees Making more than $75,000: 83

feed up

Good catch. So one in five makes over $75,000 annually plus benefits. Which is more like $100,000 annually. If a $100k employee can only supervise 4 workers they are substantially overpaid.

MichelleObama’sGreasyPurpleTaint

Unemployment is at 9%. Go ahead and strike. I hope not a single one of you entitled parasites ever works again. $47K to push a mop and they are upset?

retphxfire

First, you are obviously a very offensive person. Second, it’s New York City, $47K is not a large salary and why should some who ‘pushes’ a mop, cleaning up your messes, have to make less just because you think their job is a joke? You are the joke, but your ‘name’ is just the rant of a pathetic little person.

retphxfireisamoron

because anyone can do their job, you chump
Rich Davis

It sure isn’t rocket science!
John Moser

I clean up my own messes. You ought to try it. $50k is a generous salary anywhere. These union thieves should be fired…then set on fire, just to be sure. As to Taint’s name, he should have called himself President Slappy’s Taint. That would be just about the same as insulting your stupid tongue.

Bob A

Couldn’t happen to a nicer liberal sh## hole. Keep voting for those Democrats and you will keep getting communist unions!
Cogiito

People are lined up waist deep for one of those jobs.

MikeC711

Not so sure that is true. Don’t forget, many folks there (and everywhere) are entitled to a pretty good living w/out working at all. I deal with these folks all the time and when someone suggests that they could get a job to improve their status in life … they look at them with a blank stare as if to say … why would I do that … when I can live off of your job.

Aimes Janchell

I once told my good friend Charles Bronson, to get the hell out of that toilet(NYC). I now invite you all to do the same.

Chris, AZ

NO they need to stay there, we don’t need them bringing their corruption, greed, and socialist ideals to other states, In Az. we have to deal with all the California people who are feeling the state because of it’s policies and laws, They get here and try to implement the same thing they left behind.

gavin

“In Az. we have to deal with all the California people who are feeling the state because of it’s policies and laws”

I plan to bail on California precisely because I am NOT feeling the state and its policies and laws. Full Disclosure: I recently filed for an injunction against a commenter exploiting obvious typos and obfuscating the meaning and thus diminishing the impact of a post and I lost.

tattoo

He means that the people from California ARE “FEELING” Az. policies and laws. At least the Az. state govt is pretending to protect their citizens. The feds won’t do that.
JustMe

OMG, the spelling/grammar police have arrived! Just relax and read the comments and don’t worry yourself silly about a few typos. RELAX life is good.

rowley

Who cares. NYC loves stench and filth Occupy bunch no one will notice a strike.
JOSE

THERE ARE 30 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS IN THE USA AT THIS MOMENT AND ANY ONE OF THEM WILL DO THESE HALFWITS JOBS FOR 7.00 AN HOUR WITH NO BENNIFITS NO DAYS OFF AND NO CHANCE OF A RAISE EVER…BETTER WATCH YOUR BACKS OR YOU WILL BE BEGGING ON THE STREET CORNER FOR NICKLES

feeecheese

If Regan were mayor, he could de-certify the union and give the jobs to jail trustees and offenders on probation.
They would be more efficient , dependable, and certainly more greatful to have a job.
DJ

Maybe the illegal immigrants will know how to spell benefits and nickels

JustMe

Come on, get your nose a little higher in the air, stuffy!

Ken

Whatever happened to common sense? In this economy, no union should complain about what they have. On the same token, unions are necessary to ensure worker rights and prevent abuse of workers. $47000 is a fair wage in NYC, as it is extremely expensive here. My wife and I make approx $170K a year and it buys us comfortable in NYC. To blame the unions for the downfall of the economy is stupid. Unions have gotten greedy, but so has management. In other countries, unions work with management in companies and even has positions on their board of directors so relations between unions and companies are not as contentious. Both sides need to not be greedy and work together.

freecheese

Ken: Oh yea? See what the UAW has done to the auto industry.
The “bail-out” is nothing more than a band-aid, and it will return to haunt Detroit and the Big Three again in just a few years.
The reason they hit bottom was they were paying assembly line workers unreasonable wages, due to outrageous demands from the UAW every other year.
Unskilled line workers were paid 80-K plus in wages and benifets to screw on 6-lug nuts on a wheel — with a hangover.
When the car left the assembly line, those who drove the cars to the staging area were being paid 78-K per year to do so. That was nothing more than a valet’ driver’s job at a casino. Most of those folks work for tips.
Liberals will NEVER admit that the jobs driven overseas were due to excessive demands made by unions.
Boeing of Seattle was crippled with 11 union strikes in 5-years. They decided (3-years ago) to open a plant in right-to-work South Carolina. The Obama administration — beholden to the union dues that wind up in DNC coffers, killed the deal, along with thousand of non-union jobs.
The beloved liberal “Green Energy” jobs are being sent to China, because China can make solar panals — who’s shelf life never pays for the unit — much cheaper than union workers in the states.
The U.S. Steel plants drove production to South Korea — particulary to Po Hang.
The U. S. Merchant Marine was destroyed by unions. I could go on-and-on, but I think I made my point. I just touched the tip of the union iceberg.
j black

I disagree. I live in NYC and I make 28,000 a year. My kid doesn’t stave to death, and I receive NO government help. 170,000 is only merely “comfortable” if you are spending your money poorly, quite frankly, But if that’s what people pay you in the private sector than, by all means, carry on, my friend, carry on! It’s certainly none of my business. No, my problem with NYC is we insist on paying 60,000-75,000 and upwards a year to unionized city employees who do work that’s about a minimum wage position, and unions are a large part of that problem. This is where OWS gets it wrong. Not everyone who mooches off the working public is rich. I consider the vast overpaid city employed more damaging to the working public in the aggregate than the few number of absurdly compensated CEOs.

David Flowers

Worthless union people. They’ll dog it all day long and look for reasons not to do work. Give the office workers vacuums, let them take their own trash out, and give them rotating duty to clean the restrooms. Fire every single one of the lazy, no good union men and women!

BILL MCNEAL

REMEMBER “OBAMA OR AMERICA YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH” !!!

Alberto F.

After the SEIU, Occupy and Obama get their Communism then they can cut that wage back down to it’s real value, a buck an hour. That’s what Fidel pays in Cuba.
BILL MCNEAL

Fw#$$@%$KTHE SEIU AND ANYOTHER UNION, THAT WY AMERICA IS IN RED RIGHT NOW!! THEY ARE ALL OVER PAID AND UNDER WORKED!!!F#%$%#@K ALL OF THEM!!@! REMEMBER OBAMA OR AMERICA WE CAN’T HAVE BOTH!!!!!!!!!VOTE THE MF’R OUT IN 2012!!!!
Glen

The union says that the highest rate for its cleaners is $22.65 per hour, which amounts to about $47,000 annually”

Well this is where I do get bent with the union and I am a union employee. The highest paid are making what I am making with a college degree in Science. They shouldn’t be making more than $15.00 an hour. There is no incentive for them to do better as long as the union keeps overvaluing their wages.

Alexis

It’s New York Genius. The cost f living is extremely high there. Don’t get bent with unions, get bent from not knowing what you’re talking about!

j black

I live in NYC, and I still think that’s too high.
JR

I lived in the Bay Area and less than 10 years ago, I was making 20 bucks an hour as an RN in a critical care unit. I know how much it costs there. It’s not that much more than where I came from.

It’s total BS to pay a janitor 22 bucks an hour, let alone more, in these’ tough economic times’. Unskilled, no degree, it’s ridiculous.

Michael P Coleman

Conservative and Republicans will pick up after themselves. The liberals won’t ! look what happened at the Washington mall, when the liberals left the mall ! then look at the mall after Glen Beck’s people left the mall. Not any garbage left, at Glens day. New Years Eve at Times Square when the liberal’s left. Quite a difference of class of people !

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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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