Unionized custodial staff at Brooklyn Law School are facing a dramatic pay cut and losing their benefits after the school abruptly ended its contract with the company who had long provided cleaning services.
In early June, Triangle Services, the contractor the school has used for about a decade, informed 32BJ SEIU — the union that has represented the seven members of the overnight cleaning crew for roughly 30 years — that the school had terminated their contract and it would end on June 30.
Employees learned later that the school had signed a new contract with Advantage Cleaners, LLC, which kicks in on Friday, July 1. According to workers and union representatives, Advantage plans to cut the employees’ pay by as much as $13 per hour and won’t offer health insurance, vacation time, or retirement benefits.
Luis Pacheco, the night crew foreman who has worked at the school for more than 30 years, said his regular communication with his supervisors at the school suddenly dried up a few weeks ago.
“I used to send emails daily, and they’d respond, but in that time … they don’t respond back to me,” Pacheco said. “I called my big boss, and I mentioned that, and they said, no, everything is OK, no complaints.”
A call from his union representative broke the news to Pacheco, whose wife also works on the night crew.
In a meeting with the new company, Pacheco was told that his pay would be slashed from $30 to $17 an hour, and that...
The Kroger Sued for False Advertising case is raising fresh concerns about transparency in supermarket meat departments, as Animal Outlook accuses the retail giant of misleading in-store marketing...