Xchange Secaucus Workers Say $13.25/Hour Is Not A Livable Wage

SECAUCUS, NJ — The employees who work at the Xchange apartment rental complex in Secaucus say their starting salary of $13.25 per hour is among the lowest in the state.

Xchange is owned by a private developer, Planned Companies, the principals of which did not respond to Patch's multiple requests for comment for this article.

Presently, there are 16 porters and 35 concierges who work in the nine towers that make up Xchange. Most of Xchange's 51 employees are considered full time. The majority of them are not given health insurance from the job, according to Maria Lanao, a spokeswoman for 32BJ SEIU.

Service Employees International Union is the union that represents thousands of healthcare, hotel, building and service workers in the New York City metro area, plus elsewhere across the country.

In November of 2019, Xchange workers voted to unionize and join 32BJ SEIU.

When an employee is first hired at Xchange, wages begin at $13.25 per hour. That's one of the lowest starting salaries for building workers in the state, said Lanao, and it's an hourly pay that is not enough to live on. Xchange employees are also not given expanded paid sick leave, paid time off or retirement benefits, she said.

As of Jan. 1 of this year, New Jersey's statewide minimum wage is $13 per hour. However, Gov. Phil Murphy has said that is too low and he implemented a state law that gradually raises it to $15 per hour for most workers by the year 2024.

Rents start in the low $2,000s/month for the hundreds of apartments within Xchange.

"While Xchange at Secaucus Junction reaps the benefits of 'luxurious living just one stop away from Manhattan,' the building service workers who kept the building running during the pandemic have been working for 2+ years without a contract," she said. "With wages as little as $13.25 an hour and most with no meaningful health benefits, the predominantly black and brown workforce of porters, cleaners and concierges at the luxury complex is among the lowest paid building service workers in the state."

XChange employees are currently negotiating with Planned Companies for a contract. One of the things they are asking for is a higher starting hourly wage. They have been working without a contract since the summer of 2020.

"In terms of wages the union is asking for a significant increase for each of the three years of the contract," she said.

Lanao did not answer when Patch asked if the Xchange employees would go on strike.

In 2010, the 30,000 doormen, porters and handymen who work in NYC high-rise buildings threatened to strike, which they say would have paralyzed the millions of people who live or work in Manhattan high-rise buildings.

The next sit-down bargaining session between the developer and XChange employees will be next Tuesday, March 29.

Planned Companies is a developer based in Parsippany. According to their website, they own developments across the U.S., from San Francisco to Florida and Manhattan.

Past news about Xchange in Secaucus: Major Heroin Dealer Kept Secaucus Stash House at Xchange, AG Says (March 2019)

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