Greenwich Building Cleaners Win Round In NLRB Labor Action

GREENWICH, CT - From the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ: Greenwich cleaners who have struggled to make ends meet since their employer refused to hire workers associated with a union are one step closer to justice. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a complaint against building owner Fareri Associates in support of SEIU Local 32BJ, the union representing 21 cleaners at Greenwich Office Park, most of whom lost their jobs at the site in November 2016 when Fareri purchased the site. The complaint alleges that Fareri Associates violated the law by refusing to hire the workers or consider most of their applications when it terminated the contract of the location’s unionized cleaning contractor and assumed the janitorial work. Most of the men and women who lost their jobs had cleaned for years at the building complex on Weaver Street in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The NLRB has set the case to be heard before an administrative law judge, whom they will ask to order Fareri Associates to notify building employees of the complaint and offer “all other relief as may be just and proper to remedy the unfair labor practices alleged.” Should the government prevail, the expected remedy will include directing Fareri Associates to bargain with the Union and reinstate the workers. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, August 1, 2018, at the Ribicoff Federal Building, 450 Main Street, Suite 410, in Hartford.

“The government’s formal complaint confirms what we’ve said all along — Fareri Associates’ treatment of these workers has been unlawful," said Juan Hernandez, District Director of 32BJ SEIU. "The loss of their jobs has caused tremendous financial and emotional strain on the cleaners and their families, and property owner John Fareri now needs to right this wrong."

“It has been very hard for my husband and me to provide for ourselves and our family,” said Rosalia Bravo, who cleaned at Greenwich Office Park for 10 years before losing her job. “Though I’ve found part-time work, the full-time job not only allowed me to help my two children and two grandchildren, it provided medical insurance for us, which is critical because of my husband’s diabetes and other illnesses. I hope John Fareri will soon allow us to return to work, and allow our families to heal.”

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