School cleaners and handypersons who maintain over 1,500 New York City public school buildings voted on Saturday to ratify a new four-year contract with their employer, the New York City School Support Services (NYCSSS). According to NYCSSS, the new agreement, which was signed less than two weeks before the current contract was set to expire on June 30, secures improved communication with the employer to resolve workplace issues, improved access to vacancies, and increased funds for the workers’ supplemental retirement fund, among other improvements.

School building service workers perform a critical role cleaning and sanitizing school buildings. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, they continued working even as schools closed for in-person classes, and took on additional duties to implement increased disinfecting protocols to combat the novel coronavirus.

The workers were represented in the negotiations by the union, 32BJ, based at 25 West 18th Street, New York City, NY, 100011. With 175,000 members in 11 states, including 85,000 in New York, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country. Shirley Aldebol, 32BJ vice president and NYC school division director, said that at the height of the pandemic, school cleaners and handypersons were going into school buildings covered head to toe in personal protective equipment, risking their lives and those of their families.

“Through the worst of it, while students and teachers were 100 percent remote, school cleaners and handypersons were maintaining buildings to be used as COVID testing sites, and child care & food distribution centers,” said Aldebol. “I am so pleased that we were able to win long overdue improvements to the contract to show the over 5,000 school cleaners and handypersons the respect and appreciation they deserve commensurate with their sacrifices over the past year.”

Shortly before reaching the tentative agreement on June 21, members delivered to the City a petition signed by over 1,500 32BJ members, demanding that NYCSSS complete negotiations and address their issues.

Donna Perez is a handyperson based in Queens, and said building service workers had been put through unspeakable trauma over the past year, including losing co-workers to the coronavirus. “This new contract recognizes the value of our work and the pain of our sacrifices,” said Perez. “I am grateful to our union, 32BJ, for continuing to fight for us through a tough negotiation where we did not always feel respected by our employer. It feels good to now be able to go to our coworkers and tell them about the substantial list of contract improvements we were able to win. We needed this win after such a tough year.”

The new contract includes establishing new protocol to resolve workplace issues, a $0.09/hour increase in contributions to the workers’ supplemental retirement savings plan (SRSP) for a total of $.59/hour, and an agreement to request DOE to post job vacancies in buildings in addition to also sending emails to members in the building where vacancies or newly created positions occur. Additionally, the new contract also secures improved language regarding sexual harassment & discrimination protections, and a $500 annual bonus for workers who are required to operate boilers, standpipes or sprinkler systems in buildings with 55,000 sq. feet or below.

The contract was originally set to expire on June 30, but was extended for one year to account for pandemic-related limitations. Wages for school cleaners and handypersons are covered by prevailing wage requirements and are not negotiated during bargaining with the NYCSSS. The starting wage for cleaners in NYC’s public school buildings offers $27.87/hour, and for handypersons the starting wage is $30.45/hour. The 5,000 school cleaners and handypersons also enjoy 100% employer-paid family health benefits and a pension fund.

The new contract runs through June 30, 2024.

Meanwhile 2021 union elections and nominations at 32BJ are underway. The nomination date is July 19, 2021 and election date is September 16. Click here for information about the 2021 32BJ Union Elections.

In response to this story, a reader asked when the first $500 bonus would be paid. We followed up with SEIU Local 32BJ and they advised as follows:

“So, the first payment will come this year before Dec. 1st, and each year thereafter. When they are assigned the work they will receive the $500 before Dec. 1st. If they have a specific question about whether or not they qualify, they should contact their representative.”

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