Worker Union Files Federal Complaint Against North Jersey Company

NEW JERSEY — One of the largest property service unions in the nation is accusing a New Jersey company of “hampering fair competition” and sandbagging building owners with a “restrictive” contract clause.

Last week, 32BJ SEIU – a chapter of the Service Employees International Union that has an office in Newark – announced that it has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Parsippany-based Planned Companies.

Planned Companies supplies janitors, security officers and other workers to building owners across the East Coast. According to the company’s website, its portfolio comprises more than 1,000 residential, corporate, commercial and retail properties, with operations in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and California.

Union spokespeople released the following statement about their allegations:

“32BJ’s complaint and request for investigation, injunction and and other relief against Planned Companies centers on [its] restrictive covenant contract clause, which prohibits their building owner clients, their subsidiaries, and any person or entity retained by them from soliciting or employing any of the workers for six months after the termination of the agreement or such employee leaves or is fired. The clause also requires that building owners who violate this provision shall pay three months’ average earnings per employee as compensatory damages for the loss of each such employee, as well as all costs in collecting this payment, including attorney's fees and court costs. This type of agreement is especially unfair and deceptive since they are not disclosed to workers when they are being employed.”

“This contract clause traps the workers into precarious work, without decent wages and benefits, and without the opportunity for meaningful professional advancement,” Executive Vice President and NJ State Director Kevin Brown said.

“Moreover, it prevents the building from keeping good workers if it chooses to get rid of Planned,” Brown added. “The penalty amounts to a bondage fee for the worker.”

The full complaint can be seen here.

Patch has reached out to Planned Companies for comment about the union’s allegations. We will update this article with any reply we receive.

The FTC complaint isn’t the first time that 32BJ SEIU and Planned Companies have locked horns. In recent years, the union has held protests and rallies against the company at work sites in Newark, Bloomfield, Secaucus, Jersey City, East Orange, Guttenberg and Englewood.

According to 32BJ SEIU, it has 175,000 members in 11 states, including more than 13,000 in New Jersey.

• See related article: Essential Workers At 5 NJ Buildings Strike: 'Can't Make A Living'
• See related article: Jersey City Developer To Pay $102K In Back Wages To Cleaners
• See related article: Xchange Secaucus Workers Say $13.25/Hour Is Not A Livable Wage
• See related article: Workers Protest Wage, Benefit Cuts At Bloomfield Office Complex

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