Just trying to put everything together. Please if you have some time, check out the other stories I tagged on this subject, while they're not the only related articles, I learned a lot of how we got here, and what it's going to take to get us out of this mess.

• The collapse of the middle class part 1: Letters from Vermont
• Video: The collapse of the middle class Part 2: Revealing lecture by Elizabeth Warren
• Ed Ott, Executive Director of NY Central Labor Council: Lifting the bottom can avert the collapse of the middle class
• Bill Moyers on LA Labor, the march and what it takes to get bye in today's America
  

Here again we have some more honest writing on the matter in an opinion piece by Mike Fishman(President 32/BJ), from City Limits entitled "Low wages, High wages and nothing in between" (7/28/08):

America must correct its vast earnings gap, or the 'working poor' will continue to include far too many of us.
Last week’s national minimum wage bump to $6.55 an hour didn’t affect New Yorkers who were already earning a higher $7.15 minimum set by the state. But the extra income does little for those who had been earning the previous federal minimum of $5.85 an hour – or the 6.1 million residents of New York state who are struggling to cover the skyrocketing prices of milk, bread and gas with low wages.

Today, nearly one-third of all Americans are trying to make ends meet on low wages. And the number of low-wage jobs – primarily service jobs in hotels, food prep, home health care and office cleaning – is growing. In the next decade, 5 million new jobs will pay poverty-level wages unless something is done.

Valentino Stronza, a security officer working at a Midtown office building owned by the Paramount Group, lives this struggle daily. He's doing his best to make ends meet, but earning only $10 an hour from Apollo Security isn't enough for him to provide the home he wants his son to have. To keep costs down, he and his son share a bedroom in his sister's apartment. He works overnight three days a week trying to put money aside so he and his son can move into their own place, but so far, the extra money has gone to paying off past medical expenses.

Valentino’s not alone – according to Mayor Bloomberg’s new poverty measurement, nearly one in four New Yorkers lives in poverty. Despite working hard to create better futures for their families, they are making little headway in an economy that's producing low-wage jobs like there's no tomorrow.

At the same time, this past year marked the fifth straight year in which the number of millionaires in our country grew – now at 10 million. The top 1 percent of households take home 21.8 percent of all income – more than double the 9 percent rate of 30 years ago. This is the highest concentration of income in the hands of the wealthiest 1 percent since 1928, a year before the great stock market crash.

At no time in our history has the disparity in income been so wide and in no other industrialized country does the disparity come close. CEO compensation is more than 400 times the take-home pay of an average American worker. For an industrialized country, there is no parallel to this growing income divide between the highest- and lowest-paid workers. Corporate executives in England make half as much as those in America, while the lowest-paid workers there earn a higher wage than their American counterparts.

As we look toward the upcoming election, which will put the fate of our country in new hands, we must demand national policies to change the direction of our economy. Pegging the minimum wage to a percentage of median income would raise it and then keep the lowest paid workers on pace with future increases of the rest of the workforce. Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit – a cost that would be offset by closing tax loopholes for the very wealthy – would also help those low-income families teetering on the brink of poverty.

Locally, a citywide policy requiring publicly financed development projects to pay prevailing wages and benefits to the workers who build and maintain the sites would ensure that newly created jobs provide what New York families need to get by. At Willets Point and Greenpoint-Williamsburg developments where these provisions have already been set in motion, hundreds of good jobs will be created for working New Yorkers.

Aside from government action, companies, particularly those benefiting from tax breaks, must raise pay in low-wage industries if we are to make an immediate and wide-scale impact on poverty. Government programs alone will fall short of the mark, and unions have shown they can work with business responsibly to bring low-wage workers out of poverty.

In New York, low-wage union workers make 16 percent more in wages than their non-union counterparts and are 25 percent more likely to get employer-paid health care and a pension. But joining a union can be hard for many workers who fear employer retribution. Federal passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan bill which would create a more neutral environment for workers to decide on union membership, would help low-wage workers join a union and get the raises they need.

Americans have long held to the notion that having a job means you can make ends meet. But unless steps are taken to address the growing imbalance in our economy, we could wake up one day in a city of just the very rich and the working poor.

- Mike Fishman

Mike Fishman is president of SEIU Local 32BJ, with more than 100,000 members, including 70,000 in New York City, making it the largest private sector union on the East Coast.

Wage Hikes of up to 54% for hundreds of cleaners
From 32BJ/In The News (6/14/08):

New York, NY – Seventeen East Coast malls owned by Simon Property Group, North America’s largest publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), will soon be cleaned by workers earning better wages and benefits. Under a new agreement between Local 32BJ and Control Building Services, which employs nearly 400 cleaners at Simon’s East Coast malls, the wages and benefits of mall cleaners will be raised to match those of area office building cleaners in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

“Bringing the wages for cleaners at Simon malls into line with office building cleaners will enable hundreds of workers to climb out of poverty,” said Héctor Figueroa, Local 32BJ Secretary-Treasurer. "All workers deserve the wages needed to support themselves and families."

Simon Property Group is the largest publicly traded real estate company in the United States with over $3 billion in annual revenues and ownership interest in 380 properties around the world. Control Service Group, a private New Jersey-based company that provides cleaning and maintenance services to commercial and retail properties across the country, is a $300 million company that employs more than 8,000 people.

On May 1, 2008, cleaners at 13 of the 17 Simon malls covered under the agreement will begin earning wages on par with area office building cleaners. Wage increases for cleaners at the remaining four Long Island malls will go into effect on July 1, 2008. For many of the workers, who are earning the minimum wage, the first raise will be as much as 54 percent increase.

By October 1, 2008, fully employer paid family health care for full-time workers and a health benefit which includes life insurance, a prescription drug benefit and dental and optical insurance for part-time workers will go into effect.

Press Release (pdf)

Update to this mornings->Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!

WOW! Got the news at the New York Central Labor council, sources say the agreement came around 1:00AM. Hope they saw the story on the site. Though it needs member ratification, there is now a tentative agreement on the table.

From NY1 (9 hours ago on 3/20):

Video Link in Real Media format

A strike that would have put thousands of Bronx apartment building workers on the picket line has been avoided.

Local 32BJ announced Thursday morning that it had reached a tentative deal with the Bronx Realty Board after encouraging talks overnight.

Nearly 4,000 building workers threatened Wednesday to walk off the job. About 300 buildings would have been affected.

The new deal calls for a wage increase that amounts to $20 a week for the maintenance workers, porters, and doormen who have been working without a contract. Union leaders say that it is the largest increase ever negotiated with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board.

The new contract also calls for pension increases, along with improved health care and worker training programs.

"They reserve respect and dignity on the job," said Local 32BJ Executive Vice President Kyle Bragg. "One way of doing that is to be able to come to work with a peace of mind, knowing that you make a livable wage and that you have benefits in place that will provide security for yourselves and your family."

"We reached a package we were aiming for and I'm happy," said a union member.

Some local residents who spoke with NY1 said the workers deserve a fair wage.

"The building is clean and they keep in safe," said a Riverdale resident. "They're really great people."

"I hope the garbage doesn't pile up," said another. "But they work very hard and I don't understand why they don't get paid what they deserve."

The three-year contract still needs to be ratified by the union members.

I think the resident were going to be behind them 100%, Joe's Union Review and everyone who the guy who runs this site certainly was. Avoiding a strike is a victory for the workers and for the residents.

UPDATED: Strike Avoided->Bronx, NY: Victory! SEIU 32BJ comes to terms for better contract after strike is called

According to NY1 on my TV, the story hasn't made it to the web page yet

Negotiations between Service Employees International Union's Local 32BJ, representing 4,000 Bronx workers, and the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, representing landlords, which were resumed today have broken down.

UPDATE (2/20/08) from NY1:

Bronx Service Employees Will Go On Strike
The local union of 4,000 residential building workers in the Bronx will go on strike Thursday morning.

The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ said that talks with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board and independent building owners broke down.

About 300 residential buildings in the borough will be affected. The union includes maintenance workers, doormen, and porters.

Members say they want a pay increase and secure health insurance.

NY1 put out calls to the Bronx Realty Advisory Board but did not get a response.

Heres a story that was released before the strike was called, from News12 this morning:

Play the video

(03/19/08) SOUNDVIEW - Tenants in 500 Bronx buildings may soon have to throw out their own trash, go without repairs and open their own doors if contract talks fail Wednesday.

Nearly 4,000 Bronx building superintendents, porters, maintenance workers and doormen with the SEIU Local 32BJ are threatening to walk off the job.

The union has said it has until midnight, an extension from a March 14 deadline, to hammer out a deal with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, which represents property owners.

The union claims workers in the borough are getting paid about $10 per hour, while their counterparts in other boroughs are being paid nearly twice that amount.

Workers are also demanding pension increases and health care benefits that are fully funded by employers.

SEIU Local 32BJ maintains the Bronx's real estate industry is booming, but workers who make it possible haven't seen the benefits.

I wish the workers good luck in their struggle, they are just looking for a living wage, it took $50 to fill my tank today, the tolls just got higher and now the local electric utility, (GIANT)Con(glomerate) Edison is getting a 5% hike, thats average of $4 a month for each household.

UPDATE: (3/19/08) Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!

UPDATE To-> NY: Join 32BJ SEIU to support their bargaining demands of decent wage increases on March 5th. in the Bronx (3/4/08)

The press likes to make some noise when they have available staff to cover a story, but the contract for the 500 Bronx members of 32BJ in the Bronx has expired without a whisper of media coverage. It took me outreaching to the communications department of SEIU 32BJ to get to the bottom of whats going on.

According to Matt Nerzig, Director of Communications of Local 32BJ of the SEIU "No new contract or strike - not yet. Talks are set to resume next week.".

The workers plight was reported on at Joe's Union review, thanks to the E-Mail correspondence of the NYC Central Labor Council, and this past Tuesday in the NY Daily News:

Building workers' union contract talks at impasse
by Bill Egbert daily news staff writer 3-11-08

Members of Local 32BJ vote to strike at Bronx County Courthouse last week. Their contract expires at midnight Friday.

Residents in 500 Bronx buildings could find themselves taking out their own garbage and mopping their halls by the end of this week, as contract talks between owners and building workers head down to the wire. Nearly 4,000 building workers could walk off the job at midnight Friday, when their current contract expires.

Members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union voted last week to authorize a strike if the Bronx Realty Advisory Board didn't make a deal by a new contract deadline. "They're worried," porter German Rochez said of residents in his north Bronx building, "asking who will take out the garbage and things like that.

"I tell them that we need their support for a good contract," said Rochez, 40. "They understand. They have jobs like us and face the same kind of thing."

Bronx building workers have long negotiated a separate contract from workers in the rest of the city, mainly because rents - and landlord income - tend to be lower in the borough, though Bronx property values are starting to catch up. Workers are seeking a hike in the minimum-wage rate, now $10 an hour, and a pension increase. The average hourly wage for building workers in other boroughs, according to the union, is $18.69.

The negotiations come at a time when the Bronx real estate market is booming.

According to Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Bronx property values have jumped 76% in the past four years, rents have increased 17% since 2005 and the Bronx has the lowest vacancy rate in the city. Local 32BJ Vice President Kyle Bragg said SEIU - which merged three years ago with the union that started the two-tiered wage system - is trying to close that gap, but he acknowledged that will be a long-term project.
Read Full Story

I wish the Bronx workers good luck, avoiding a strike is a good thing, negotiating a good contract with better living wages would be even better.

UPDATE->Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!(3/19)

SEIU LOCAL 32BJ BRONX MEMBERS FIGHTING FOR A GOOD CONTRACT This past December, 32BJ commercial members won a terrific contract thanks to in part to the support of our community and labor allies. Today, their residential members in the Bronx are engaged in their contract fight and we ask you to stand with them again. 32BJ represents about 4,000 workers in over 1,400 residential buildings in the Bronx. The current contracts for these members expire on March 14,2008. Their members take care of buildings as supers, doormen, porters and handymen. They are the hard-working people who take care of their tenants. Like most working people, they struggle to provide for their families. As the real estate industry has boomed in the Bronx, their members continue to struggle to get by. In the last few years, top investors have poured hundreds of millions of dollars in Bronx real estate. Huge new developments are being planned such as Gateway Center, Boricua Village and a new Yankee Stadium. Over 5,000 residential units began construction in 2007. Borough President Adolfo Carrion calculated that property values in the Bronx have jumped 76% in the last four years. But working people continue to be left behind. The Bronx residential members make dramatically less than other residential members in the City. The average wage is 20% lower in the Bronx and some Bronx workers are paid as low as $10/hr. Wage increases for Bronx members have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, food, and transportation over the last three years. Their goal is to ensure that workers get their fair share. We ask for your support in this fight. Thank you in advance for your continued solidarity!

32BJ CONTRACT GOALS: Bronx members are demanding: -Decent wage increases -Maintaining their health insurance -Improved pension and other benefits JOIN 32 BJ FOR THEIR MARCH 5TH RALLY: On March 5th at 4pm, thousands of 32BJ members and their supporters will be marching on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to support their bargaining demands of decent wage increases, and increased retirement benefits. The meeting place is Frank Sigel Park at 153rd Street and the Grand Concourse. The Bronx real estate market has been booming. Let's make sure Bronx workers get their fair share! Click here to download a flyer for the rally. *FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL GOURI SADHWANI AT GSADHWANI@SEIU32BJ.ORG OR 212-388-3967.