Immigrant cleaners working at ConEd facilities across the city are being retaliated against in their fight for improved pay and working conditions, alleges a labor union 32BJ SEIU. The union is accusing Nelson Services Systems, the non-union subcontractor that employs 55 janitorial workers for ConEd, of failing to pay them prevailing wages.
State law requires that all workers, at critical infrastructure facilities like ConEd, including subcontractors, be paid a prevailing wage that mirrors union workers’ wages. Workers employed by Nelson make $16 an hour without benefits. But current prevailing wage rules require that building cleaners earn a base that is nearly double that at $29.97 an hour, with an additional $15.28 in supplemental benefits such as healthcare.
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After two years of organizing, on Oct. 21, 32BJ SEIU filed an unfair labor practice charge against Nelson Services Systems with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for taking retaliatory action against workers in response to workers’ union activity. According to the NLRB charge, the company began arbitrarily enforcing a previously unenforced dress code as well as surveilling worker activity. The NLRB is now investigating Nelson following 32BJ’s allegations.
For Sergio Centeno, a Peruvian immigrant, who works at ConEd’s Manhattan headquarters at 4 Irving Plaza, sleep is a luxury he can’t afford. The $16-an-hour wage he earns with Nelson is barely enough to support his wife and son and pay the rent for his Jackson Heights apartment. With such a low salary, Centeno was forced to take a second job cleaning office space for another company.
“Nelson only pays me the minimum wage, $16 an hour, which forces me to work a second cleaning job of 20 hours a week along with my 40 hours at Con Edison,” he said. “The only hours I don’t work during the week are midnight to 8 am and noon to 4 p.m.”
Taking a second job was all he could do to stay financially afloat, but despite his long hours, he always found himself still struggling.
“Our salaries are not enough,” he said. “We are fighting to move forward to improve our lives. Also, the work is not easy. We cleaned everything in the office and now we have a new supervisor who is putting more pressure on us to work harder.”
It’s not the first time Nelson Services Systems has been accused of violating workers’ rights. In 2022, the company, along with ConEd, was named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit alleging that they failed to pay workers prevailing wages. The suit also alleged that Nelson failed to pay workers overtime wages. In 2023, Nelson and ConEd reached a settlement, agreeing to pay $3.1 million in damages to workers.
In 2017, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) ordered Nelson to pay a worker $825 in stolen wages. The following year in 2018, the DOL again ordered the company to pay $2,080 in stolen wages to another worker.
Despite several emails and phone calls, Nelson Service Systems could not be reached for comment.
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Denis Johnston, 32BJ executive vice president and director of the union’s New York Metro Commercial Division, is calling on ConEd to break off its business ties with Nelson and work with a more scrupulous contractor.
“We call on Con Edison to take action to resolve this injustice and to ensure the cleaners who service their buildings and facilities are paid fair, family-sustaining wages and benefits,” he said. “Con Edison should hire a responsible contractor who will respect workers’ rights and provide good jobs. We can’t let contractors like Nelson disregard the labor rights of New Yorkers.”
The union isn’t the only one putting pressure on ConEd. On Oct. 7, New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett, who chairs the New York State Assembly Committee on Energy, wrote a letter to ConEd asking them to hire union contractors.
“As Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on Energy, I value Con Edison’s cooperation and dedication to building an energy system that benefits all New Yorkers,” the letter read. “I believe that commitment should include providing quality jobs for contracted service workers. Given your vital role in the energy sector, I urge you to consider the treatment of the non-contracted workers and include the use of unionized labor for contracted workers.”
According to the Assemblymember’s office, ConEd has not replied to the letter.
