Housing Works CEO And Pols Spar Over Union Efforts

DOWNTOWN, BROOKLYN — Elected officials came to Housing Works headquarters Monday to support its staff's unionizing efforts, but ended up sparring with the nonprofit's CEO when he insinuated they were in the union's pocket.

The group — armed with a letter signed by more than 50 city, state and federal elected officials — met up with Housing Works' CEO Charles King in downtown Brooklyn to urge him not to meddle with self-proclaimed overworked and underpaid staff's efforts to join the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Tensions mounted quickly when King, reiterating a pledge made to staff via email, read a statement promising to remain neutral but that also included loaded comments about the elected officials' ulterior motives.

"I understand RWDSU is politically powerful — it makes election endorsements contributions and other electoral support," King said. "It does not surprise me that many elected officials will act at RWDSU’s beck and call to demand that Housing Works do the union’s bidding."

His comments led lawmakers delivering the letter to question whether he really would stay neutral.

"What I heard from you today, particularly in that [statement], sounds a lot like a person who is really trying to not have a union," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams retorted.

The visit came a week after more than 100 workers for the nonprofit —which provides aide to homeless New Yorkers and those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS — walked out of work, claiming that King was trying to stop the union by not signing a "neutrality agreement" and violating federal labor laws.

The CEO called the lawmakers' supportive letter "hypocritical," specifically calling out City Council members who had voted last week to suspend one of their own for a series of ethics violations, but not expel him.

King's remarks also called out state lawmakers, who he says have passed a budget the last three years that cut the public funding for organizations like Housing Works. The CEO seemed to blame those cuts for some of the problems his staff has pointed to in trying to form a union, such as high caseloads, low wages and skimpy healthcare.

"It is these cuts that leads to cutting jobs and wages and our ability to increase, as much as we would like to, which leads to increase workloads for our community providers," he said. "You repeatedly ask us to do more with less."

Assembly Member Michael Blake contended that state lawmakers have consistently tried to restore that funding from the executive branch's proposed budget. He argued that the lawmakers' intentions in supporting Housing Works staff were genuine.

"We are not here at the beck and call," Blake said. "We are here to help people."

As for the specifics of the King's role in blocking the union efforts, lawmakers and the CEOs also didn't see eye to eye.

King has said that he didn't sign the neutrality agreement — which employees argue will ensure he won't retaliate against staff for joining the union — because of issues with certain provisions, not because he won't stay neutral.

He is concerned the agreement's request for employee phone numbers violates privacy and that its requirement for a 90-minute union meeting on company time could be seen as him mandating "union indoctrination."

But Williams contended that the union has created an amended agreement that addresses these concerns, which had already been sent to King. King argued that he hasn't received the amended agreement, but said he'd be open to renegotiating as soon as that afternoon.

Williams promised to resend the amended version.

"There is willingness to negotiate on some of the things you’ve brought up here," Williams said. "We’re here trying to make sure the conversation goes as least stressful as possible."