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As Time Ran Out, New Jobs For Striking Workers After fighting for their salaries and benefits for nearly two months, 20 longtime employees of the 26-story office tower at 123 William St. gave up their struggle last month. But it appears that they will be employed—somewhere—after all. Until February, the cleaners at the building had a union contract with First Quality Maintenance, making about $20 an hour, with health insurance and vacation pay. But in January they learned that building owners Jack, Paul and Jeffrey Wasserman were firing their employer and hiring a non-union replacement. The workers could stay on, but with no vacation or health benefits, and a new salary: $7.50 an hour. Along with their union, SEIU’s 32BJ chapter, they protested the shift and tried to pressure the building’s owner and their new employer, Servco Industries, to restore their old salaries and benefits. Despite demonstrations at the building and union negotiations, the workers made no progress and last month they went on strike. But the building owners wouldn’t budge and time was running out as unpaid bills piled up. Even more pressing for many of them was the lack of health care. Aaron Sullivan, who had worked in the building for more than 18 years, has a son who was born with a chromosomal disorder and requires developmental therapy. Without insurance, he had to stop the therapy. Esther Dufour, 59, had worked in the building for 24 years. She said she didn’t know how she would pay for the epilepsy medicine that prevents seizures. John Schavone, a 57-year-old freight car operator, received a liver transplant in 1998 and takes immunosuppressant drugs to keep his body from rejecting his new liver. By mid-March, Schavone was running low on drugs and had started rationing pills to make them last longer. Finally, the union decided it had to end the standoff. On March 24, the workers were called to union headquarters, where they were told that First Quality would take them back, finding them work in other buildings. Their salary and benefits would be restored, but their jobs at 123 William St. were gone. “I feel very relieved,” said Elpidio Sanchez, after learning that he will have a new job with his old salary and benefits. “My heart is in my mouth. Before it was a nightmare, but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Still, the relief was tinged with sadness that longtime co-workers would be separated. And there was concern over the precedent that might be set. “If they can do this at 123 William, you wonder where they’ll do it next,” Sullivan said. “It’s scary.”
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