By BETH FITZGERALD
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Published: December 28, 2007
About 200 of the 7,000 union workers who clean New Jersey office buildings rallied outside Penn Station in Newark at noon yesterday, amid ongoing contract talks centered on wages and health benefits.
The members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union have authorized a strike if no agreement is reached when their contract expires at midnight Monday, New Year's Eve.
"We want more full-time jobs for our members, and fair wages to help them climb out of poverty," said Kevin Brown, New Jersey area director for the union, which is negotiating with a consortium of 50 cleaning contractors that service the buildings of some major corporations across the state, including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and AT&T, according to a union spokeswoman.
Fred Ward, a member of the negotiating team for the contractors who employ the cleaners, could not be reached yesterday for comment on the talks.
Yesterday, workers carrying signs proclaiming "Stand up for the American dream" and "Justice for janitors" marched from Penn Station to the headquarters of Public Service Enterprise Group a few blocks away on Broad Street. Both buildings are cleaned by members of the union, which represents about 75 percent of the state's commercial janitorial workers, according to Brown. A similar rally was set for 3 p.m. yesterday in midtown Manhattan. Contacts covering 50,000 janitors in seven states are being negotiated, and most face the same New Year's Eve strike deadline.
The majority of the union's 7,000 New Jersey cleaning workers are employed part time, and only the 2,800 or so full-time workers have access to employer-provided health insurance, Brown said. The workers earn $9.75 to $12.50 an hour, or $19,000 to $25,000 a year. Brown would not say what the union is seeking on either wage increases or greater availability of full-time employment.
"We don't want to strike, but our members have authorized us to call a strike at the expiration of our contract," Brown said.
Mario Mata of Newark said he was laid off in August and rehired as a part-timer in November, but no longer had health insurance for his wife and two children.
"Thank God, we have been healthy," he said.
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