SEIU 32BJ
Service Employees International Union, 32BJ | |
| File:32BJ logo.jpg | |
| Founded | 1921 as BSEIU |
|---|---|
Members | >110,000 (2009)[1] |
| Affiliations | SEIU |
| Website | http://seiu32bj.org/ |
SEIU 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the United States, representing more than 110,000 members [1]. Its members are office cleaners, security officers, doormen, porters, maintenance workers, bus drivers and aides, window cleaners, school cleaners and food service workers. 32BJ is based in New York City, and operates in 8 states and Washington, D.C. It is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, a labor union representing over 2 million workers.
History
Early Organizing
Between 1902 and 1920, attempts were made to form janitor’s unions, but disadvantages were overwhelming. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) chartered a few early janitor locals but remained chiefly concerned with more skilled trades.
In 1921, seven small local unions led by William F. Quesse of the Chicago Flat Janitors received an AFL charter as the Building Service Employees International Union. By 1928 BSEIU membership had grown to 7,000 members across 50 small locals, with most of the strength still centered in Chicago.
The Great Depression caused many BSEIU locals to fall by the wayside, and the situation in New York City was especially hard. Local 32, Superintendents and Janitors, suffered a wage cut. Locals 58 and 51 were dwindling in members, and Local 14, Harlem Superintendants, had folded. New York janitors and others were working under conditions the Chicago Flat Janitors had won 20 years earlier.
BSEIU Local 58 disintegrated in the face of a 1933 membership revolt led by elevator operators David Sullivan, Thomas Shortman, Arthur Harckham, and Thomas Young. The 500 dissenting members applied to BSEIU, now led by Jerry Horan, but were turned down. Joined by Local 32, they formed an independent union in February 1934. In March 1934, Thomas Young and James Bambrick led the union’s first successful strike against a Seventh Avenue building, and by mid-April Bambrick succeeded in obtaining a BSEIU charter for the new local, and Local 32B was born.
Following a successful strike in the garment district during November of 1934, 32B began rapidly growing in membership, gaining an estimated 4,000 new members in less than three days during the strike, and membership stood at somewhere around 6,000 by the spring of 1935.
After another successful strike in 1936 which paralyzed residential and commercial buildings citywide, 32B was established as one of the most powerful trade unions in New York City. By 1937, less than three years old, Local 32B counted some 10,000 members and shifted the balance of BSEIU power away from Chicago.
32BJ Presidents
- James J. Bambrick (1934-1941), first president of Local 32B
- David Sullivan (1941-1960)
- Thomas Shortman (1960-1972)
- Arthur L. Harckham (1972-1976)
- John J. Sweeney (1976-1981), oversaw merger of Local 32J[2]
- Gus Bevona (1981-1999)
- Mike Fishman (2000-present)[3]
References
- ^ a b 32BJ.org - About the Union Cite error: The named reference "NumberofMembers" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "History - 32BJ," SEIU Local 32BJ, no date.
- ^ 32BJ.org - President's bio
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External links
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