6
QUEENS WEEKLY, AUGUST 11, 2019
BY BILL PARRY
An international
ground services
corporation operating at
JFK International Airport
has come under increased
scrutiny by the Queens
Congressional delegation
for its alleged unfair
labor practices.
Con g r e s smemb e r s
Grace Meng, Gregory
Meeks, Carolyn Maloney
joined other New York City
leaders in a joint statement
calling out Eulen America,
a Spanish-owned private
contractor for its treatment
of nonunion cabin cleaners,
baggage handlers and
wheelchair attendants
to American Airlines
and Delta.
“Over the last several
weeks, we have heard
troubling reports of
worker mistreatment
at JFK Airport. The
allegations made by Eulen
America employees raise
serious concerns,” the
Congressional members
said on Aug. 5. “Employees
have accused Eulen of
workplace violations, such
as forcing employees to take
their paid sick days when
they weren’t sick, or lose
them, and not providing
employees allowances for
uniform cleaning, forcing
them to pay for often
expensive cleaning out of
pocket. The allegations
of unfair treatment and
ignoring workers’ rights
are serious, and we are
deeply concerned.”
Eulen America
dismissed the allegations
saying it provides its
workforce team uniforms
that require commercial
laundering or other
special treatment, that it
implements a generous
rollover policy for paid leave
and has documentation
to prove it, and Eulen
America claims that the
minimum starting wages
for team members working
at JFK is $19 per hour.
“Eulen America cares
deeply about our workforce
and we are firmly
committed to providing
them a work environment
and procedures that
meet or exceed industry
standards,” Eulen America
CEO Xavier Rabell said. “We
take our full compliance
with New York City Worker
Protection & Workplace
Laws and all other
applicable regulations and
laws very seriously and we
have always been available
to answer any questions
members of Congress may
have about our workforce
team and policies.”
Rabell added that
despite the Service
Employees International
Union efforts to drum up
support, there has not been
sufficient interest among
their workers to petition for
a vote.
“We do not object at
all if our employees wish
to unionize,” Rabell said.
“No one needs to mislead
the public about our
company in order to choose
the right to collective
bargaining. What we do
object to is continued
inaccurate and unfair
characterizations about
us and how we treat our
team members.”
Oh rats! Rodent reports
up in R’wood, Flushing
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Ridgewood continued
to have Queens’ largest
reported rat population,
while complaints about
the critters spiked
in two northeastern
neighborhoods last year,
according to a Renthop
report released on Aug. 5.
The “Is Your City
Rodent Infested?” report
documented complaints
about critters running
through major cities across
the United States in 2018,
including a borough-byborough
breakdown for
New York City.
Brooklyn continues
to lead the city in rat
complaints, with 6,526
reports during 2018. Queens
is in middle of the fiveborough
pack with 2,605
complaints in 2018, with an
average of 24.1 complaints
per square mile.
While none of the Queens
neighborhoods could be
considered rat-infested,
residents in Ridgewood
had the most reported
rat sightings last year,
with 179 total complaints.
That’s a marginal increase
of 4.7 percent from the
171 sightings in the
neighborhood back in 2017.
Jackson Heights (162
complaints in 2018, a 27.6
increase from 2017) and
Astoria (93 complaints in
2018, down from 108 in 2017)
were second and third,
respectively, in having
the most rat complaints
in Queens.
Two northeast
Queens neighborhoods,
meanwhile, had a surge
in rat sightings last year.
Auburndale in Flushing
had a 340 percent increase
in rat complaints last
year, but while that
number sounds truly skincrawling,
the raw number
of complaints was actually
small (22 complaints in
2018 versus five complaints
in 2017).
Oakland Gardens also
saw a surge in rat sightings
in 2018, with 12 complaints.
That’s up 200 percent from
the four reported in 2017.
Meanwhile, four
Queens neighborhoods
had the biggest drop in
rodent complaints in 2018.
Bayside and Bayside Hills
had a 75 percent decrease
in reports over the last
year (18 in 2018 versus 73
in 2017), followed by Rego
Park with a 73 percent
plunge (18 complaints in
2018 against 66 in 2017).
College Point residents saw
64 percent fewer rodents in
2018 (5 cases against 14 in
2017) and Ozone Park had
a 63 percent decrease (14
complaints in 2018 versus
38 reports in 2017).
While rodent complaints
tend to peak during the
summer, the most rat
sightings in New York City
last year occurred in the
spring and early summer
months of May, June and
July, with a combined 38,319
complaints for the period.
By contrast, the fewest
complaints were recorded
in January, November
and December, a
combined 21,844.
Check out the full report
on Renthop’s website,
renthop.com.
Reach reporter Robert
Pozarycki by email at
rpozarycki@qns.com or by
phone at (718) 260-4549.
Political pressure has grown against Eulen America for the
way it treats workers at JFK Airport. Courtesy of 32BJ SEIU
Photo via Getty Images
Pressure on Eulen to stop
JFK worker mistreatment
ASTORIA TIMES ■ BAYSIDE TIMES
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