Out gay Queens City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer voices his support for the unionization effort.
➤ HOUSING WORKS, from p.4
claiming to be neutral but on their
own terms.”
He added, “There have been a
number of different iterations of
that. They sent out an initial email
when we fi rst made the neutrality
ask saying they’d be neutral, then
they sent out one or two other
emails since then that have tacitly
denigrated the union and said that
Housing Works reserves a right to
advocate on its own behalf.”
Care manager Ilana Engelberg,
who was among the most vociferous
leaders of the group, said she
was pleased with the collective activism
of colleagues who traveled
from different parts of the city to
stand up for one another at Borough
Hall.
“Today was amazing,” she said.
“These are workers from all different
sites and all different job titles…
case workers, mental health
providers, bookstore workers.”
She continued, “We all want the
same thing. We want to have the
ability to negotiate our own terms.
We want to have a say in our workplace.
And we deserve that.”
The workplace frustration, fi rst
reported by The New York Times ,
has drawn the attention of local
elected offi cials from various level
of government. Out gay City Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer of
Queens joined workers at the rally
alongside his Council colleagues
Ben Kallos of Manhattan and
Brad Lander of Brooklyn.
Van Bramer, bullhorn in hand,
MATT TRACY
faced the workers on the steps of
Borough Hall and thanked them
for standing up for themselves.
“There is no such thing as queer
rights without worker rights,” Van
Bramer said.
Among other lawmakers to voice
support for the workers included
Congressmember Jerrold Nadler
of Manhattan and Brooklyn, State
Assemblymember Michael Blake
of the Bronx, Councilmember
Helen Rosenthal of Manhattan,
and State Senators Julia Salazar
of Brooklyn and Gustavo Rivera of
the Bronx.
King said he has been in contact
with several elected offi cials
regarding the unionization process.
But when asked about politicians
who were in attendance at
the rally, he said he had not communicated
with them.
“I would appreciate that if they
want to have a conversation about
it, give me a call,” he said.
In the following days, more
than 50 elected offi cials — including
out gay City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson — signed a letter
calling on Housing Works to sign
the neutrality agreement.
On November 5, Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams and state
legislators including Blake, Salazar,
and State Assemblymembers
Richard Gottfried of Manhattan
and Yuh-Line Niou of Queens
confronted King about the issue
outside Housing Works’ downtown
Brooklyn headquarters, but
were unable to convince him to
sign it.
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