New York – Dozens of porters and handypersons working for Concourse Village residents in the Bronx and their supporters rallied Thursday afternoon to call for a fair contract. Workers and their union, 32BJ SEIU, have bargained in good faith with the apartment complex’s co-op board since the contract expired in 2011 to no avail. Though willing to grant economic concessions, the workers and union refuse to accept the board’s insistence on a four-year wage freeze.

Kyle Bragg, 32BJ Secretary-Treasurer, said, “We aren’t asking for anything more than the standard set for building service workers across the Bronx. We aim to keep these positions good, middle-class jobs our city needs.”

“We work hard every day to clean and maintain Concourse Village,” said Hector Ramos, porter at Concourse Village. “We deserve a fair contract that recognizes our hard work and allows us to raise our families in dignity.”

Concourse Village is a six-building, 600-unit apartment complex in the Bronx.

32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country, with more than 125,000 members in eight states and Washington, D.C., including 67 porters and handypersons in Concourse Village.

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