According to figures released by the AFL-CIO, in 2021 343 workers died on the job each day due to hazardous working conditions, a total for the year of 5,190. In addition, an estimated 120,000 workers died from diseases related to their work like exposure to hazardous materials, toxic chemicals and the like and violence at the workplace claimed the lives of 120,000.
Hundreds of unionists, members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, took to the streets June 26 in New York to rally against a new landlord’s action against building workers. The landlord, Fifth City Realty, an affiliate of Empire Capital, had recently purchased the building at 529 5th Avenue at 44th Street in Manhattan.
The new management has proceeded to cut wages of the buildings cleaners nearly in half to the city’s minimum wage of $16 an hour. cancelling worker benefits like family medical insurance and terminating long term employees, including full-time and part-time security officers and a fire safety director.
The rally was joined by building workers throughout the neighborhood in support. “This company is bad on many levels,” said Denis Johnston, executive vice-president of 32BJ. “They’ve been referred to as billionaire bottom feeders. They don’t care about workers’ rights, they don’t care about tenant services, and they have a reputation of not investing in their properties.”
“My wages have been cut almost in half to $16 an hour. They have cut our benefits. How will we survive? They want to take away everything we have fought for. But we are fighting back,” said an 18-year 32BJ member who works at the Fifth Avenue building. Another worker at the building, a security officer, defiantly declared, “We can’t let greed win.”
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2024-07-04 17:38:222024-07-04 18:37:34HUNDREDS OF BUILDING WORKERS IN MANHATTAN RALLY AFTER WAGE CUTS AND FIRINGS
“Donald Trump’s legacy is chaos and division—and his greatest accomplishment in office was a bloated tax giveaway for the wealthy at the expense of working people who make our country run. He oversaw the largest increase in outsourcing in a decade, put a union-busting lawyer in charge of the Department of Labor and blocked workers from receiving the pay we earned. Trump… would escalate his anti-worker crusade with the radical far-right’s Project 2025 agenda by eviscerating unions and hard-won contracts; slashing millions of union jobs; blocking workers from organizing; and drastically cutting wages, health care and retirement benefits.…
“Unions in our country are on the line in this election—and so are union members’ hard-won contracts. It’s simple: A second Trump term is a corporate CEO’s dream and a worker’s nightmare.”
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2024-07-02 10:09:342024-07-03 16:51:57AFL-CIO PRESIDENT LIZ SHULER: 2nd TRUMP TERM – A CORPORATE CEO’s DREAM AND A WORKER’S NIGHTMARE
LATEST TOLL OF ON-THE-JOB DEATHS
Labor BriefsAccording to figures released by the AFL-CIO, in 2021 343 workers died on the job each day due to hazardous working conditions, a total for the year of 5,190. In addition, an estimated 120,000 workers died from diseases related to their work like exposure to hazardous materials, toxic chemicals and the like and violence at the workplace claimed the lives of 120,000.
AFL-CIO Website, 7/14,https://aflcio.org
HUNDREDS OF BUILDING WORKERS IN MANHATTAN RALLY AFTER WAGE CUTS AND FIRINGS
Labor BriefsPhoto: 32BJ SEIU
Hundreds of unionists, members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, took to the streets June 26 in New York to rally against a new landlord’s action against building workers. The landlord, Fifth City Realty, an affiliate of Empire Capital, had recently purchased the building at 529 5th Avenue at 44th Street in Manhattan.
The new management has proceeded to cut wages of the buildings cleaners nearly in half to the city’s minimum wage of $16 an hour. cancelling worker benefits like family medical insurance and terminating long term employees, including full-time and part-time security officers and a fire safety director.
The rally was joined by building workers throughout the neighborhood in support. “This company is bad on many levels,” said Denis Johnston, executive vice-president of 32BJ. “They’ve been referred to as billionaire bottom feeders. They don’t care about workers’ rights, they don’t care about tenant services, and they have a reputation of not investing in their properties.”
“My wages have been cut almost in half to $16 an hour. They have cut our benefits. How will we survive? They want to take away everything we have fought for. But we are fighting back,” said an 18-year 32BJ member who works at the Fifth Avenue building. Another worker at the building, a security officer, defiantly declared, “We can’t let greed win.”
amNY, 6/27
AFL-CIO PRESIDENT LIZ SHULER: 2nd TRUMP TERM – A CORPORATE CEO’s DREAM AND A WORKER’S NIGHTMARE
Labor Briefs“Donald Trump’s legacy is chaos and division—and his greatest accomplishment in office was a bloated tax giveaway for the wealthy at the expense of working people who make our country run. He oversaw the largest increase in outsourcing in a decade, put a union-busting lawyer in charge of the Department of Labor and blocked workers from receiving the pay we earned. Trump… would escalate his anti-worker crusade with the radical far-right’s Project 2025 agenda by eviscerating unions and hard-won contracts; slashing millions of union jobs; blocking workers from organizing; and drastically cutting wages, health care and retirement benefits.…
“Unions in our country are on the line in this election—and so are union members’ hard-won contracts. It’s simple: A second Trump term is a corporate CEO’s dream and a worker’s nightmare.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, as quoted by Labor Start, 6/29