BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Elected offi cials accused executives
at a Downtown Brooklyn
nonprofi t of attempted
union busting at a rally on
Monday.
“What I’ve heard from you
today... sounds a lot like a person
who really is trying to not
have a union,” said Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams.
Employees at Housing
works — a nonprofi t dedicated
to house homeless New Yorkers
suffering from HIV and
AIDS — are attempting to organize
in response to what
they claim are unfair working
conditions, including low pay,
high caseloads, and lousy benefi
ts
And Monday’s actions followed
a walkout on Oct. 29 that
saw 100 workers leave their
post to join a demonstration
at Borough Hall, where some
workers claimed management
pressured them to bail on the
union action.
“They had senior people
asking people if they were going
to the walkout,” said Brian
Fleurantin, a case manager at
Housing Works.
The company also hired
Chicago-based labor law fi rm
Seyfarth Shaw LLP, which
prides itself as keeping workplaces
COURIER L 12 IFE, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2019
“union-free,” according
to its website, and has a history
of cases that include working
against the 1960s agricultural
labor activist Cesar Chavez
and defending Harvey Weinstein’s
fi lm company against
a slew of sexual harassment
claims.
Senior Housing Works
staff also sent out a link to the
union-critical website unionfacts.
com to supervisors, according
to Fleurantin.
In response, Williams —
along with a slew of city and
state legislators — fi red off a
letter demanding charity honchos
sign a pledge of neutrality
forbidding them from meddling
in the unionization effort, and
the pols rallied in solidarity
with workers on Monday.
Charles King, Chief Executive
Offi cer of Housing Works,
confronted the pols assembled
outside the charity’s Lawrence
Street HQ, where he fl atly denied
accusations of union busting,
claiming the charity has
maintained a healthy neutral
stance throughout the unionization
effort.
“Housing Works is committed
to remaining neutral
in this organizing campaign,”
King said.
King did, however, reject
the neutrality pledge, which
requires workers watch a 90-
minute video by the Retail,
Wholesale and Department
Store Union on company time
and allows the union access to
its facilities to hold informational
meetings, among other
things.
But a rep for the union said
King is speaking out of the side
of his mouth, and that organizers
sent the charity head an
email agreeing to drop those
clauses from the neutrality
agreement if Housing Works
would simply pledge not to interfere
with the labor effort,
according to a Gay City News
report.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Housing Works CEO Charles King
faced off about an ongoing unionization effort. Photo by Kevin Duggan
Meanwhile, Fleurantin
said employees at the nonprofi t
are being worked to the bone,
and claim that management
couldn’t care less about their
staffers’ woes.
“Our case loads are so
large and cases are so varied
you don’t have all the time in
the day to address every need
imaginable,” said Fleurantin.
“We feel that senior management
say they hear us but they
don’t.”
HOUSING JERKS!
Politicians call out charity for attempted union busting
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