BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | At the end of last month, Arturo Vergara returned to his job as the evening doorman at the tony Printing House condos at Hudson St. between Clarkson and Leroy Sts. A month earlier he had been abruptly fired after missing a day of work, and his co-workers briefly went on strike in response.
However, the real reason Vergara was let go, he and his co-workers say, is because he was a leader in their efforts to unionize.
As a result of negotiations between Planned Companies — the contractor that employs the Printing House workers — and the 32BJ union, Vergara was brought back and the rest of the building’s staff all received raises. As of Aug. 1, veteran staff members will be close to, but not quite at, the full union wage of $22.50 per hour for doormen. Others will have a minimum wage of $15.75 per hour.
“At a personal level, this is very rewarding,” Vergara said. “I think, over all, the guys are very pleased with the victory because after fighting for two years, we have a small victory under our belt toward our end goal of bringing the union into our building.”
However, he added that, as opposed to union members, they still only have individual healthcare plans — their families aren’t covered — and they don’t have pensions.
As part of the effort to foil their unionizing effort, the workers say, the Printing House’s board brought in a large contractor, Planned Companies, to employ them. As a result, the bar was raised from unionizing the building’s eight staff to all of Planned Companies’ 2,000 workers.
Vergara told The Villager the workers’ goal is now to get the Printing House’s board to sever their contract with Planned Companies and again let the building’s staff try to organize.
“I talked to the guys and we realized that because of what happened to me we don’t have any protection,” he said. “We know for a fact that we do need the union to represent us, or otherwise we’ll be at the mercy of our employer. Having the union will help us fight back so another person isn’t fired.
“We’re going to keep going to make sure we get all the benefits we want and deserve by becoming union members.”
As for why Planned Companies agreed to reinstate Vergara and give his co-workers a raise, he said the alternative was potentially years of dragged-out litigation by 32BJ in federal court over the company’s allegedly anti-union activities, including Vergara’s firing.
Speaking last month, Sal Vitiello, the head of the Printing House’s board and an 18-year building resident, said, “The proposal that Planned Companies made to the union has been approved by the board. [Vergara’s] coming back and there will be a significant raise that we think they’ll be happy with.”
