New York, NY – Today, November 28, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations Inc. (RAB) formally proposed ‘insulting’ changes to the union contract impacting 20,000 NYC essential commercial cleaners who have sacrificed their health and livelihoods during the pandemic and been instrumental to the city’s economic recovery. The RAB proposes to cut take-home pay and benefits. The proposals include:

• Making members pay for their life-saving health insurance (healthcare premium sharing).
• A permanent second tier workforce that would lock in substandard wages and benefits for new hires.
• Unnecessary cuts to labor protections and fairness in the workplace that ignore how the existing contract already allows for reduction in the workforce when vacancies increase, as has been demonstrated over the last three years.
• Cuts to paid sick days and vacation.
• Eliminating overtime wages after 8 hours.

The changes proposed by the RAB would upend essential workers’ lives, making life untenable for thousands of working class families in the city. Single parents could be forced to move out of the city if forced to take on new healthcare expenses; workers would have to choose between their health and paying rent; grandparents could be forced to take on second jobs; workers already forced to work second jobs could face impossible choices.

“The rising cost of living forced me to take a part-time second job earlier this year, along with my full-time cleaning job. I work 13 hours per day, five days a week! But the RAB wants me to make more sacrifices? How will I afford to pay more for my medical insurance?” said 15 year Manhattan commercial office cleaner Yenny Hernandez. “During the pandemic, I was laid off for two years. It was two years of uncertainty – I had to go to food banks in the Bronx. Thank God I have good health, because I lost my health insurance. After all we have been through over the past three years, I find these RAB proposals are insulting.”

“We risked our lives to keep everything safe and clean. My affordable health insurance saved my life during the pandemic, but now the RAB wants to force me to decide between my health and paying my bills?” said Ena Softley, a rank and file member of the 32BJ bargaining committee, who has worked as a commercial office cleaner in Manhattan for 37 years. “I got COVID in March 2020. I almost passed away and had a fever for three weeks. It was my affordable health insurance that saved my life. My doctor told me to stay inside, because I might not survive another infection, but I had to go back to work – because I had to pay my bills. My building needed me to be there to re-open. It is disappointing that the RAB has suggested we pay more for our health insurance after all we have done. I am still struggling with respiratory issues from COVID that forces me to take steroids.”

“Today the RAB made their proposals in bargaining. Unfortunately, these proposals fall short of what our members need and deserve. Rather than proposals that reflect the sacrifice and leadership these essential workers have demonstrated, the RAB instead chose to ask workers to make further sacrifices,” said 32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich. “The industry workforce has already been reduced by 2,000 jobs to account for increased office vacancies. Now the industry wants to balance its books on the backs of working families and the essential workers who keep office buildings, transportation corridors, tourist attractions and offices functioning, clean, sanitized and safe. The RAB speaks about the value of their properties in terms of trillions of dollars. Our members are talking about paying for child care. We understand that things have changed, but our members and working New Yorkers have already made sacrifices to account for those changes.”

“Our cleaning staff has been cut from 30 to 19 in my building since the pandemic. As a result of hybrid work and other changes I went from cleaning two floors to cleaning four floors,” said 13 year commercial office cleaner Maciel Mancebo.

The industry reduced the workforce by 2,000 jobs since the pandemic, accounting for increased office vacancies and the fact that cleaners are not tasked with regularly cleaning empty office space. That translates to a reduction in labor costs by some $200 million annually. The industry agrees cleaners are essential.

Workers are mobilizing. 1,600 NYC commercial cleaners, porters and handypersons self-organized to mark the opening of bargaining on November 9, in midtown Manhattan and Zuccotti Park, when the 32BJ bargaining committee opened with proposals for wage increases to keep up with the cost of living, the preservation of employer paid quality health insurance and pension improvements. 500 rank and file Strike Captains are organizing to prepare buildings to strike if necessary. The contract covers 1,300 buildings and expires on December 31.

During the height of COVID-19, cleaners, including those with pre-existing conditions, worked despite the risks, because their buildings, transportation hubs and the city needed them. They adapted to extraordinary circumstances, learning new routines and sanitizing practices – risking their lives and the health of their families as they continued working and commuting on public transportation.

Dozens of commercial cleaners passed away from complications due to COVID-19 and thousands of others suffered through extended layoffs due to COVID-19 that forced members to make financial sacrifices.

Meanwhile, tourists have returned, and job growth has surpassed 2019 levels in NYC; since the pandemic began, New York City office owners have authorized more than a billion dollars in stock buybacks; reports have shown that 90% of companies will implement return to office policies by the end of 2024; three of NYC’s largest publicly-traded office building owners have reported a combined $11 billion in profits since 2010 and have reported Manhattan office occupancies ranging from 87.8% to 91.6% in the third quarter of 2023; new office space is being built, reflecting confidence in the future of the market; leasing activity is ticking up; one CEO has said publicly, “It appears that predictions of an existential crisis from New York City office buildings is way, way overblown.” Another CEO has said publicly, New York City is back. […] You can feel the energy if you walk the Streets and stand at our lobbies. The restaurants and stores are packed and our buildings are pretty much back to normal Monday through Thursday. The key is that talent wants to be here.”

Bargaining will determine whether the cleaners, who are the backbone of the buildings and whose labor accounts for just 5.5 percent of rent costs, will be able to survive in the city going forward and provide for their families.

The contract covers tourist attractions and public spaces like the Empire State Building Observatory, Top of the Rock, The Edge at Hudson Yards, World Trade Observatory; museums like MoMA; new commercial developments like Hudson Yards; large commercial office buildings like One Vanderbilt and World Trade Center; universities like NYU, Pace, Long Island University and St. John’s University; transportation hubs like Grand Central and Port Authority; biotech labs; and more.

Per their current contract, NYC cleaners receive $29/hour, employer-paid family health insurance, paid vacation, paid sick leave, a retirement pension, and have access to free legal, education and training services where they learn the latest sanitizing practices and access free career advancement opportunities. These standards have been fought for and incrementally won over decades of struggle and organizing.

###

With more than 175,000 members in 12 states, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country. 32BJ SEIU represents over 80,000 building service workers in NYC, including 20,000 commercial office cleaners. 32BJ SEIU members hail from 64 different countries and speak 28 different languages.