American Dream mall cleaning crew holds daylong strike. Here's why
Cleaning staff at the American Dream, the megamall in East Rutherford, engaged in daylong strike Thursday after saying their company laid off 20 employees over the weekend.
The move is the latest in a years-long unionization saga by cleaners at the Meadowlands entertainment and retail complex, who tried to unionize in 2022 only to meet what they’ve characterized as fierce pushback from their employer, HSA Cleaning.
A rally was scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday in front of the Meadowlands Arena, previously known as the Izod Center.
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“It’s their right to organize, their right to speak and be represented,” said Ana Maria Hill, New Jersey State Director for 32BJ Service Workers International Union, which is organizing the workers.
“They just got piled on more work and they can’t even talk about it and push back out of fear of retaliation.”
One worker, Guadalupe Montiel of Paterson, detailed through a translator a pattern of overworking the few workers there are at HSA — in some cases to the point of injury.
Over the past two years, a legal battle has played out over whether a duo of workers at the cleaning company were fired for trying to organizing a labor union.
Eventually, the National Labor Relations Board intervened on behalf of the two workers — Jose Terán and Luis Valera, who were employed by HSA Cleaning — and tried to get a court order for them to be reinstated at their jobs.
Ultimately, Terán and Valera got their jobs back this spring, but HSA has allegedly declined to issue backpay as required under the court order.
HSA Cleaning declined to comment for this story. A spokesperson for the American Dream could not be immediately reached for comment.
More: Firm had to rehire fired workers at American Dream. Supreme Court ruling makes that harder
An attorney listed for HSA Cleaning — John Vreeland of the law firm Jackson Lewis — could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday morning.
Vreeland previously argued last summer before a federal judge that the decision to let go of Varela and Terán were part of a reduction of force, not because of their desire to form a union.
He pointed to 25 people who were let go and previous testimony that painted a picture of the two as difficult to manage and not doing their jobs. Ultimately, the federal judge, Kevin McNutly, disagreed.
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
Email: munozd@northjersey.com; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: American Dream mall cleaning staff go on daylong strike
