The Realty Advisory Board has begun contract negotiations with the city’s commercial office cleaners.
The contract covers more than 23,000 32 BJ SEIU members and is one of the biggest private sector contracts in the country.
Howard Rothschild, president of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, said, “Today marked a successful first meeting and we look forward to continued productive negotiating sessions that will result in a fair and mutually-agreeable resolution for both sides by December 31.
“The RAB and 32BJ have a history of successful collective bargaining, based on mutual respect, and we are confident that will continue this year. We are proud that by working together, we have created thousands of middle class jobs with great pay and benefits.”
The current labor agreement, which was negotiated in 2015, covers more than 25,000 commercial building service workers, including office cleaners, maintenance workers, elevator operators, porters, lobby attendants, and some security professionals – in more than 900 commercial properties throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.
The labor agreement will expire at midnight on December 31, 2019.
32BJ is calling for “fair wage increases, protecting quality health care, strengthening protections on the job.”
“Corporations are raking in major profits, and the industry remains strong,” said Kyle Bragg, president of SEIU 32BJ. “The 23,000 cleaners that keep this city running should be able to benefit from the strength of the industry.”
