New York, NY— Workers, tenants, elected officials and union leaders will rally at 1711 Fulton Street in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on Thursday night to call on the building owner to restore good jobs for the building’s workers, who saw their pay cut and were harassed and fired because of their union membership. They will also call on Vertices to make a commitment to improve the building’s living conditions for tenants.  According to recent media reports, the building, which currently receives a state affordable housing subsidy, has fallen into grave disrepair.

WHO:  Workers and tenants at 1711 Fulton Street; New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, New York State Assemblyman Walter Mosely, New York City Councilmembers Mattheiu Eugene and Brad Lander; 32BJ President Hector Figueroa; community and union members

WHAT:  Rally for Good Jobs and Safe Housing at 1711 Fulton Street

WHEN: TOMORROW, Thursday, July 30 at 6 pm

WHERE: 1711 Fulton Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

WHY: In a recently filed complaint, the National Labor Relations Board says there is probable cause that building owner Vertices Holdings and building management company Shinda Management Corp. violated federal labor law in scores of instances of threats and retaliation against the building workers due to their membership in the union and/or their actions to protect the good pay and benefits they previously received under a union contract during decades of service at the building.

The owners also violated the law when they unilaterally cut the workers’ pay almost in half and slashed their benefits, the complaint says.

You can find the full complaint here: https://buildingworkers.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CPT.29-CA-150709.Complaint-Signed-by-RD.pdf

Tenants are also concerned about deteriorating living conditions at the building and their future there, as press reports have indicated the building’s Mitchell-Lama affordable housing obligations end later this year and the owner would have the option of opting out of the program.

The workers and the tenants will come together on Thursday to demand that Vertices, whose Brooklyn developments have been called “decidedly hip” by The Real Deal, provide good jobs and affordable housing in Bed-Stuy.

With more than 145,000 members, including 70,000 in New York City, 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the country.

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