John Santos, secretary treasurer of the 32BJ union, speaks during a strike authorization vote rally outside Bronx Supreme Court on Thursday, March 21, 2024.
Photo Paul Frangipane
Unionized Bronx residential workers gathered on the steps of the Bronx Supreme Court to say “hands off our contract!” on Thursday — authorizing a potential strike if they can’t come to an agreement by the end of next month with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board (BRAB).
Manny Pastreich, the 32BJ SEIU union president, warned BRAB during the March 21 rally that “if they reopen this contract, they’re going to feel the pressure” of the union.
“This is a fight for respect, the respect for the doormen, the respect for the doorwomen, the porters, the handy persons, the maintenance teams and the superintendents in the Bronx,” Pastreich said. “This is a fight for your hard work. This is a fight to make sure that these building owners respect the work that you do.”
The Bronx Times has reached out to BRAB and is awaiting response.
Thursday’s gathering was almost identical to the union’s rallying cries last year, when in March 2023 they also said they were ready to strike if agreements weren’t met by their contract’s expiration date. The 32BJ crew was able to avoid that strike a year ago — which would have been the borough’s first-ever, reportedly — after the union finalized a new contract at the 11th hour. They have been fighting for better conditions since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed them to the workforce frontlines.
But 32BJ says now BRAB is aiming to reopen their contracts on April 1 to “attack essential workers’ wages and vital benefits.” According to the union, the contract covers 1,400 Bronx workers — doorpeople, handy-persons, porters, and superintendents — at 433 Bronx co-ops, condos and apartment buildings.
“This is just like déjà vu brothers and sisters,” 32BJ Secretary Treasurer John Santos. “We were here a year…
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