BY TAMAR ROSENFELD
NEW YORK-Walking through any commercial strip in Manhattan, one sees pockets of picketers, garbed in the now-familiar red and white signs emblazoned with "LOCAL 32B-32J ON STRIKE. Help Us Win!"
The local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has 70,000 members, representing both commercial and residential maintenance wor-kers. The strike involves the some 30,000 maintenance workers, janitors, elevator operators, and cleaners who work in 1,300 commercial buildings throughout New York City.
On January 23, nearly 3,000 maintenance workers marched through midtown Manhattan, banging on Clorox bottles and other cleaning instruments in an effort to win solidarity. It was the strikers' biggest march to date.
The strike began January 4. Workers 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. Negotiations resumed January 19, only to break off 15 hours later. As the strike is entering its third week spirits are high on the picket lines. Workers are standing strong in freezing temperatures to staff pickets at their work sites during the shifts they would have been working.
Thomas Farina, a maintenance cleaner for 19 years who is a shop steward at the World Trade Center, emphasized that the central issue for the SEIU is the two-tier wage set up the company is trying to impose. According to the employers' plan, it would take the lower tier six years to reach full pay, and the new workers would not receive health benefits for their first six months on the job. "We are not even talking about a wage increase right now," Farina said. "We are negotiating over the two tiers." Currently all union members make the same wages and benefits regardless of seniority. By establishing a two- tier wage and benefit structure, "they want to break the union," Farina stated.
"Two-tier wages are designed to break the union down," another striker agreed. "The members make the union. If a new hire makes $7 an hour working next to someone doing the same job for twice that, he will think `why should I strike?' when something comes up. What would he have to fight for? We stand for no divisions," he said. "It is the building owners who want divisions."
Medical benefits are the second-most discussed issue on the picket line. Farina explained that three years ago the bosses slashed medical benefits, decreasing the covered amount 10 percent and raising the deductible (the amount an individual must pay before the insurance coverage kicks in) from $100 to $500.
Larry Adams, another porter, said that the group of 700 union members at the World Trade Center have experience walking the line. In 1978, he related, the Trade Center workers were locked out. "The Port Authority wanted to throw us out," added Farina. Larry Adams remembers that the workforce was picketing for two weeks. They won a wage increase and kept the union, Adams said.
Private maintenance companies, known as cleaning contractors, bid on contracts to win the service and maintenance work for the buildings organized by the SEIU. The workforce remains the same, but the company for which they work can change. One company, ABM, recently won the WTC contract by underbidding its competitors to the tune of $6 million, according to the strikers. "ABM underbid, and now they want to implement it through this contract." They cut their prices, "now they want to cut our wages," another striker said. Adams laughed, "I bet they haven't gone down on the rent" they charge their tenants. "Where's the money going?" asked another porter, referring to the amount building owners saved by signing with ABM.
Many opinions abound on the role of the cops outside the Port Authority. Their presence cannot be missed, with barricades set up near truck entrances and cops posted at every corner in the area, many well away from Port Authority property.
Farina said that the heavy cop presence gives the impression that the picketers are a threat. Early in the strike, the media floated stories about strike-related violence. "They say we're slashing tires, breaking windows," he said. "We're out here with signs, walking around. They're out here with barricades, trying to make it look like there's something going on."
Some trucks are making deliveries despite the picket lines. One worker said, "truckers going in don't realize we're one of the biggest unions in the city. They are coming after us. If they can beat us, then they'll come after the rest of them." He added, "This battle is for all unions."
The owners have hired some scabs since the strike began. "We don't have anything against the scabs," said Larry Adams, "It's the people hiring the scabs."
Tom Grace, a utility man for 12 years and a Vietnam war veteran, is thinking bigger than the local strike. "If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have gone to Vietnam." He said thoughtfully, "they send us [overseas] to make money for big corporations, and I just won't go anymore." Of the strike, Grace said with confidence, "We are going to win. You can be assured of that."
Contributions to the Local 32B-32J Strike Fund can be sent to SEIU, 101 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-1906. Donations will be used to supplement the $50 a week strike benefits that members are receiving.