NYC public school cleaners, handy workers to hold rally for improved contract

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
NYC Public School cleaners and handyworkers to hold rally
The workers are holiding a rally to ask for improved pension benefits.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Thousands of public school cleaners and handy workers are holding a rally Tuesday to call for improved labor contracts.

They're set to gather at City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan at 10 a.m.

The workers are fighting for an enhanced pension benefit that ensures they'll be able to retire comfortably amid rising inflation and the high cost of living in the city.

Their current contracts expire June 30.

The 5,000 workers clean and perform repair work on New York City's more than 1,300 schools.

The workers say they, "conduct heavy duty and comprehensive deep cleaning and maintenance, including gymnasiums, painting, broken furniture, changing furniture, and everything else. In many schools, handypeople run all the systems in the school, including the boilers. During the summer they perform taxing work to get ready for back to school, including stripping and waxing, oftentimes with no AC."

The workers say they haven't had a pension improvement since 2018.

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