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Bronx, NY – City Council Members Cabrera, Palma, Arroyo, Rivera, Koppell and Rodriguez joined 32BJ members on Monday for a town hall meeting on good jobs in the community. The town hall focused on creating good jobs at city-subsidized developments and highlighted a City Council bill, Intro 18-2010, that would guarantee good wages, health care and other benefits to building service workers who work at new, city-subsidized developments and newly-leased city work sites.
“We must take concrete steps to eliminate the government’s role in promoting poverty,” said Councilman Fernando Cabrera, Bronx. “We can create good jobs and develop communities at the same time.”
The town hall was the kick-off event for the union’s city-wide campaign to support the good jobs bill, which was introduced by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito in February and currently has 26 co-sponsors, including Bronx City Council Members Cabrera, Foster, Arroyo, Palma, Koppell and Rivera.
“There’s no reason why workers at city-funded sites should get paid less than workers at other buildings,” said Kyle Bragg, Vice-President of 32BJ—the union representing 70,000 building service workers in New York City. “Government should not be in the business of creating poverty jobs.”
Over the past few years, the City has approved large-scale re-development plans that will transform neighborhoods without guaranteeing the new jobs created will provide family-sustaining wages and benefits. Without an economic development policy focused on creating good jobs, tax-dollars can be used to create jobs for office cleaners, residential building workers and security officers that pay as little as minimum wage. The good jobs bill would ensure jobs created with the help of city tax-dollars provide the same wages and benefits as other building service jobs in New York.
“Without a city-wide policy, we miss opportunities to create good jobs for New Yorkers,” said Bragg. “We shouldn’t be subsidizing developments that leave working families in the cold.”
“I need a good job to take care of my family and be active in this community,” said Elpidio Sanchez, 32BJ member and University Park resident. Sanchez was a cleaner at a commercial building in Lower Manhattan where wages were cut in half by a new cleaning contractor. “When my wages were cut by a low-wage cleaning company, we couldn’t pay our bills.”
With more than 120,000 members, including 70,000 in New York City, 32BJ is the largest property services union in the country.
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updated 3/8/2010
