To Replace Private Building Maintenance With City Staff

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James UNION VS. UNION: Privately-contracted maintenance workers from SEIU Local 32BJ protested the city's decision to replace them with lower-paid welfare-to-work employees, even as the city said their replacements would be civil servants from District Council 37 who would work more cost-effectively. From left to right: Abdul Mohammad, Adzija Vukic and Tony Henriquez of Local 32BJ.

Privately contracted but unionized maintenance workers and janitors staged rallies outside two city-owned buildings July 9, protesting their replacement after 40 years of service.

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services defended its decision, saying that the janitors would be replaced by city workers represented by District Council 37.

The current maintenance workers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, have all worked at 100 Gold St. or 80 Center St. for at least 15 years. The maintenance workers of both buildings have been unionized since the early 1970s.

City Expects Savings

But the city bought the buildings in 1994 and is now letting the service contracts expire with Perfect Building Maintenance, the private company employing the workers. The 35 workers at both buildings will be replaced by city workers who are being employed through a welfare-to-work program and are members of DC 37.

"The reason we're doing this is we believe city employees provide building services at the same level cost-effectively to the city," said DCAS spokesman Mark Daly in a phone interview.

Local 32BJ officials countered that the workers were being paid comparatively low wages and would have inferior benefits and pensions compared to its veteran employees.

Tim McGrath, a 32BJ official at the rally, said that he understood the new workers were going to be paid $10.36 an hour, less than half of the $20.99 hourly rate that the current employees receive. "We had little notice. This building's been 32BJ for 40 years. It's a disgrace: a lot of these workers are veterans, who have a lot of years of service," he said.

'Like a Hostile Takeover'

Tony Henriquez, a night foreman in the building, said the change had been a long time coming. "They have cut our budget to zero. Our companies has been getting loans from the banks just to keep us working," he said. "It was like a hostile takeover, what they did. . . the Mayor of New York has promised Local 32BJ workers that they will be safe in any city building, but this is not happening."

Abdul Mohammed, another worker, said that he didn't understand the city's motivation. "They're taking us out of our jobs for no reason. I could understand if there is some problems happening in the building, but no, everything is fine as it is."

He predicted that the loss of the workers, some of whom have worked at the building for over 30 years, would be detrimental. "If these guys, they don't have any experience to take care of this building, this building will definitely fall apart," he said.

Surprised by Insecurity

Mr. Mohammed also noted that while he had worried about abrupt termination at other, privately-owned buildings, he did not expect it of the city. "I was afraid this would happen one day, especially in the private buildings. But when it comes to the City of New York, I thought that's it, it's going to be steady; the city will never go bankrupt," he said.

Adzija Vukic, another maintenance worker, said that he and his co-workers had built up a level of trust and friendliness with the workers in the building, who mostly work for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. "The people leave their cell phones on the table, they leave their money on the table. They're not scared."

"Everybody likes us in the building," agreed Milimir Djogovic. "I think it's strange, really. My $40,000 per year is really going to save the city's economy?"