Co-op / Condo Workers in The Bronx May Strike; 1,000+ Buildings at Risk

The union says this would affect more than a quarter of a million residents living in over 1,000 apartment, condo and co-op buildings in The Bronx.

"Cutting health-care and retirement are not options for working families," said Kyle Bragg, vice president of 32BJ. “New York City workers need wages and benefits that are in line with the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world."

"The owners and operators of these buildings have seen increasing and escalating costs over the past three years of the existing contract," William Schur, president of The Bronx Realty Advisory Board, told Habitat, "and due to the current economic situation are trying to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract for both sides."

Third Union Contract Talks within Year

Last June, a weeklong lockout by management of 500 Co-op City members of 32BJ ended when the staffers returned to work under their previous contract's salaries and benefits while negotiators returned to the bargaining table. After bringing in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a government agency, the two sides reached a tentative agreement on June 23 and ratified it shortly afterward.

A citywide strike was averted last April 21, when  the Realty Advisory Board for Labor Relations (RAB) and union negotiators struck a last-minute agreement for a four-year contract covering 30,000 workers. The  union claims membership of 70,000 in New York state and 120,000 members concentrated in eight states.

In the current negotiations, the two sides have met twice this month in an effort to reach a new, multi-year contract.

"Supporting two kids on my own is tough," said Jose Cosme, who has been a maintenance man at the Section 8 subsidized Lambert Houses apartments in the South Bronx for close to 20 years. "I need to keep my retirement benefits for their future and affordable health-care for their well-being."

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