Just before the holidays, David Bistricer - who controls Flatbush Gardens, a massive 59 building apartment complex in New York City - Iocked out more than 70 longtime building employees in an attempt to force them to accept a devastating 34 percent wage cut.
With such poor treatment of workers and some 8,000 housing violations at the complex, it's easy to see why Bistricer is called one of the "Worst Landlords" in the city. To bestow this 'honor' upon him properly, Flatbush apartment building workers and supporters are gifting Bistricer with a lump of coal in the form of a new ad running in several NYC area papers over the holidays.
As Flatbrush workers continue to protest being forced out or locked out of their workplace unless they agreed to an ultimatum, they've received a steady stream of support from fellow union members and the wider Brooklyn community. Large piles of trash piled up outside the complex stands as direct evidence of union solidarity, and the apartment building workers' picket lines have been honored by Verizon workers, UPS drivers and of course, Sanitation workers.
Consider too that there's more at stake here in this fight than meets the eye. As Tom Robbins of the Village Voice writes, the lockout of building workers in NYC for "failing" to agree to a one-third wage cut is not just a singular news story. Rather, the battle playing out in East Flatbrush is part of a much scarier modern-day narrative on the plight of working people in America.
It's simply one perfect example of the powers-that-be taking advantage of the economic crisis and high unemployment numbers to cut wages and drive down workplace standards. Could it be a harbinger of things to come?
More about the unions' efforts to raise awareness and shed light on the deplorable conditions at Flatbrush in the New York Times here.
You can show your support for these workers as they continue to stand up for their jobs and good jobs everywhere at http://www.fixflatbushgardens.org.
