Thursday, April 20, 2006

Will the doormen strike?

It's getting closer to decision time for building owners, with doormen scheduled to go on strike tonight. Albor Ruiz has a must-read column explaining the "freeze and squeeze" going on, where landlords and management companies insist on a pay freeze and steep increase in health care costs while real estate profits soar.

Buildings are "lining up conscripts to clean floors, sort mail, haul trash and work lobster shifts at the front door in the lonely hours before dawn" (from the New York Times), not to mention clean dog poop off the sidewalk. No word on whether rent and maintenance fees that go to pay doormen to do those things will be returned or quietly pocketed.

All this raises the question, what are the ways people living in a building with a doorman can show solidarity with striking workers?

1 comment:

Bread and Roses said...

First and foremost, by refusing to do the work of the doormen--because that is crossing the picket line. So don't volunteer to deal with the trash, to staff the door, etc. etc.

But my question is where are the picket lines gonna be? Because I think we should all visit our building staff on the line.