New York, NY – Today, twelve janitors at Twitter’s 245-249 West 17th St. location went public about their lives being upended after Twitter canceled its contract with their employer Flagship Services with no explanation. These essential workers, already struggling to keep up with a rising cost of living in NYC, are out of work.
If no action is taken, the cleaners, composed predominantly of Spanish and Albanian speakers, risk losing union health care benefits on Jan. 31 that their families have depended on for years for medications and essential medical care. The location has been unionized with 32BJ SEIU for approximately seven years.
Workers received a message forwarded from Twitter on Dec. 19 simply informing them that, “We regret to inform you that Twitter has decided to terminate NYC Janitorial services….effective immediately.” Workers are demanding answers and their jobs back!
“This is potentially life changing for us. I have to change the way I live and what groceries I buy to save money after being laid off. My daughter was already helping me pay the bills, and now I’m unemployed. And losing healthcare benefits could be devastating. I need those benefits for my asthma, arthritis and other treatments and medications. I’m going to keep fighting until I get my job back! We will not let billionaires treat us like this,” said cleaner and 32BJ SEIU shop steward Lucy Calderon.
“Twitter’s decision to cancel the cleaning contract for its NYC office has upended the lives of these dedicated cleaners, many of whom have worked at this location since Twitter moved in seven years ago. NYC’s essential cleaners have done too much for this city to be treated like this,” said Denis Johnston, 32BJ SEIU Executive Vice President and Director of the Commercial Division. “They put their lives on the line to keep workers and the public safe throughout the pandemic and are essential to the city’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic. These union members and their families now face extreme hardship because of the loss of their good paying jobs with quality health insurance.”
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With more than 175,000 members in 12 states, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.