Manny Pastreich

Manny Pastreich took the helm of 32BJ SEIU from Kyle Bragg in 2022, just as New York City was emerging from the pandemic.

32BJ members are commercial building cleaners, maintenance workers, doormen, security officers, engineers and food service workers. The long-term implications of the COVID-19 lockdown on working conditions for its 175,000 members have been front and center in contract negotiations the past two years, and have also galvanized new members to join its ranks — including Starbucks baristas, fast-food workers and delivery workers.

In December 2023, some 20,000 commercial building workers across the five boroughs narrowly avoided a strike as their contract expiration loomed and it seemed that the Realty Advisory Board wouldn’t back down on a list of demands, which included lower wages for new hires and shared health insurance premiums.

But the union defended against both those measures in the end, and won a historic wage increase to boot. Building cleaners will make an extra $149 per week on average this year.

“If I look back at the last year, that’s probably the No. 1 accomplishment we had,” Pastreich said. “We were bargaining with the commercial real estate industry in the most difficult circumstances at least since 2009, and maybe, really, since the late `90s, with the vacancy rates, the remote work and the rising interest rates.”

Then there’s 32BJ’s larger efforts to combat the rising cost of health care and the scarcity of affordable housing. It’s no coincidence Gov. Kathy Hochul chose the union’s Flatiron District headquarters as the venue to announce New York’s recent housing deal. A labor coalition that includes 32BJ had a seat at the table in closed-door negotiations with Albany lawmakers and the Real Estate Board of New York on a legislative package that aims to jump-start housing production across the state and protect tenants from sudden rent increases.

For Pastreich, who grew up watching his father organize hospital and nursing home workers in Massachusetts, the modern labor movement is more than just a vocation.

“We can be a powerful voice for our members and win better wages and benefits,” he said, “but we are also a powerful voice for our members in politics, getting worker-friendly folks elected and taking on issues that go beyond our directive, whether it’s raising the minimum wage or fighting for health care for all — not just our members, but the broader communities that we live in.”