Housing Works Staff Vote To Join Union After Months-Long Battle

BROOKLYN, NY — Staff at the Brooklyn nonprofit Housing Works have voted to join a union after a months-long battle with the organization's leaders.

Eighty-eight percent of Housing Works' staff members who voted last week cast their ballot to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) last week, the union announced on Wednesday.

The vote comes a year after more than 100 of Housing Works' 605 employees walked out of work to protest what they described as years of overwork and underpayment at the hands of CEO Charles King, who they said had actively tried to stop them from unionizing.

“These workers experienced a needlessly long fight to unionize their workplace," RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a release. "Their tenacity, and fortitude never wavered in this unnecessarily long process, which was stalled by their employer at every turn. Together, they are ready to win a strong contract that will only enhance their ability to care for the Housing Works community."

Housing Works, headquartered in Downtown Brooklyn, provides aide to homeless New Yorkers and those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and runs two thrift stores in Park Slope.

The vote to unionize by workers at Housing Works was conducted by mail-in vote. The RWDSU will represent the 605 workers in contract negotiations starting next year.

Workers from 35 Housing Works locations — including its thrift stores and bookshops from across Queens, Manhattan and — have pointed to long hours and low wages in their quest to join the union.

They specifically decried an average pay of about $16 per hour during 16-hour days and six-day weeks.

The excessive work and low pay has meant that many employees burn out quickly and leave the organization, they said, adding that Housing Works has a 30 percent employee turnover rate and has started putting unpaid volunteers or newer workers into senior positions.

Update: An earlier version of this piece stated that 88 percent of 605 employees had voted to join the union. The correct number is 88 percent of the 205 employees who voted, according to a spokesperson for the company.