By MIKE LEE and JULIAN DEJESUS

In the summer of 2020, workers at homelessness support organization Breaking Ground began their campaign to join District Council 37. They filed for recognition on Aug. 27, 2021, and Breaking Ground management recognized their intention to unionize two months later.

That was just the beginning for the more than 250 workers at Breaking Ground. After the workers unionized, negotiations for a contract began with Breaking Ground management.

Breaking Ground is New York’s largest non-profit developer and operator of supportive housing, with more than 4,400 transitional and permanent housing units under its management. The agency also runs street homeless outreach programs in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and midtown Manhattan.

Nearly two years after being recognized as DC 37 members, the workers, who professionally and compassionately interact with at-risk individuals daily, are still without a contract. Members and their allies rallied on Oct. 19 to call attention to management’s refusal to negotiate in good faith.

“We need more money. I’m one paycheck away from homelessness,” said Tawan Guy, a painter at the Breaking Ground Schermerhorn location. “It makes me feel unvalued as a worker. I love my job, but we have been fighting for three years for some respect.”

Member Madeline Quiles said she has been there for 16 years. “They can pay us real wages. They can afford that,” she said, adding that workers and clients have a dire need for safety. “We asked for metal detectors and they said, ‘We don’t want people to think the safe haven is unsafe.’”

Jose Villamil, a housekeeper at Breaking Ground’s Parkhouse, said members there are very overworked. ”We are short-staffed and at our location, we are responsible for six floors,” he said.

As wages and benefits remain stagnant due to inflation, several workers at the rally spoke out for a need for relief from Breaking Ground management and to settle the contract immediately.

“I’ve been here for 20 years and I can barely pay my mortgage,” said Leon Gadwah, an engineer at the Christopher location. “I thought Breaking Ground would look out for us, but they won’t. How are we going to survive in New York? This is a multi-million dollar organization. What they have offered us is not enough.”

The workers at Breaking Ground, fed up and rising up, are taking their message to the public.

“The morale has changed and more people are stepping up to the plate,” said DC 37 Organizer Shawn Gray. “They want to get involved because everybody is a paycheck away from being homeless, and here they are helping the homeless as their job. The message is getting around.”

Negotiations are continuing toward a resolution. In a promising sign, Breaking Ground management formed a committee to work on the safety and health issues in the facilities. Thanks to public efforts by the workers and their indefatigable spirit, there are expectations a collective bargaining agreement will soon be reached with much better wages and benefits.

“The union has been fighting for us,” said Larry Walden, who works in housekeeping at the Schermerhorn location. “It taught me that we must fight for ourselves to get a strong contract.”