BY ABBY TILSNER AND SARAH KATZ
NEW YORK - Braving the Blizzard of 1996 and harassment by cops and city officials, some 30,000 janitors, maintenance workers, elevator operators, and cleaners continue to walk the picket line in eight-hour shifts determined to defeat an assault on their living and working conditions.
Members of Service Employees International Union Local 32B-32J walked out January 4 and are fighting the attempt by management to impose a two-tier wage system, starting new hires at $352 per week versus the current $573 per week. New hires would reach parity only after six years. Currently all union members make the same wage regardless of seniority.
The union is demanding a 3.8 percent wage increase over the next three years, while management has proposed only 2 percent. Also at stake is a reduction in paid sick days and holidays, and proposals to slash medical care and other benefits.
These fighters went on strike against the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, which represents the owners and managers of some 1,000 commercial buildings in New York City including the World Trade Center, Trump Tower, Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center.
The last time this local struck commercial buildings was in 1948. Many workers have been on the job 10 or 20 years and have never been on strike before.
On visits to four picket lines these reporters met strikers from Yugoslavia, Trinidad, Columbia, Peru, Yemen, Italy, Egypt, Cuba, and the United States, among other places.
Ari Silver, in charge of fire safety for a building on Wall Street, said "They're trying to break the union." Many unionists agreed with this sentiment and think management will look for any reason to fire them in order to hire new workers at the lower wage.
Also struck were commercial buildings not represented by the RAB, but whose workers are organized by the SEIU. Workers have gone back to work at those buildings whose owners signed a "Me Too" agreement to abide by whatever terms are signed by the RAB and SEIU.
Gus Bevona, Local 32B-32J president, announced at a press conference that 100 labor leaders belonging to the New York City Central Labor Council pledged to give full support to the strike, honor picket lines, and contribute to the local strike fund.
Strikers receive $50 per week strike allowance.
Since the strike began cop presence has been beefed up
in places like the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania Station,
and other areas with a concentration of office buildings.
Following the blizzard that dumped a couple feet of snow here January 7-8, city cops escorted scabs to shovel clear some of the walkways in front of struck buildings.
The New York Times reported January 7 that police said they had made 32 arrests since the strike began, most in the downtown and midtown areas on minor charges like disorderly conduct, trespassing, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief.
Silver saw a fellow fighter arrested. "This guy was standing down the street when two police cars with their lights flashing went speeding down the street, he waved to the cars. The police car pulled over and arrested him for obstruction of justice."
On the picket line in front of the IBM building at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street Zora Bukumirovic, originally from Yugoslavia, spoke about her run-in with the cops. "I was almost arrested when I stood in front of a garbage truck one night. They called the police. The cops asked me to move, but I refused. The cops and my union steward started to grab me. They forced me to move. Why am I on strike then?"
Many Teamsters working for Federal Express have honored the picket lines as well as unionists from United Parcel Service and the United States Postal Service.
A demonstration has been called for January 19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Rockefeller Center by a group called United Union Members of New York City.
Abby Tilsner is a member of the United Auto Workers at General Motors in Tarrytown, New York.