Sunset Park Strike Could Target City's Largest Recycling Facility

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — More than 70 percent of the workers at the SIMS Municipal Recycling facility in Sunset Park have signed a petition saying they want to unionize under the Teamsters, union spokesman Alex Moore said Wednesday. But according to Moore, SIMS has yet to accept the employees' appeal.

As a result, a strike could be on the table at the facility, the spokesman said. According to its website, the SIMS facility handles "the majority of New York City’s commingled curbside material."

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In anticipation of that eventuality, Brooklyn Councilman Antonio Reynoso, who chairs the Council's sanitation committee, has scheduled a Feb. 28 hearing on "the potential for a work stoppage" at the plant.

According to the Teamsters, workers at the facility think a union would help them "address disrespectful management, favoritism, and an unfair scheduling system. They also want affordable healthcare for their families."

In December, worker Jordy Lopez told Patch that one of his supervisors told him the unionization effort was "bull***t." Another worker, Vinny Ambert, said he pays $520 per month for family health insurance with a deductible low enough to make it usable. Both workers said they make about $42,000 annually.

On Wednesday, mechanic Jhon Munoz said that he pays about $160 per month for personal health insurance, but that his plan "really sucks." He also said that while he hasn't personally had bad relations with managers, his co-workers have, including instances where individuals have been demoted or given less overtime work in retaliation for backing a union.

"It makes me feel angry and sad that [NYC residents] probably think that everything is good over there," Munoz said, referring to the facility. "Meanwhile, the public doesn't really know what goes on behind closed doors. That's why we're trying to form this union, and [SIMS managers are] not respecting our wishes."

A SIMS spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment about the unionization drive, either in December or this month.

Last week, Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca offered his support for SIMS' workers, stopping by the facility and posting on Facebook that the employees "have a right to organize,"as well as the "right to a safe workplace, and the fair compensation, and benefits in place for workers at similar facilities operated elsewhere."

Top image by John V. Santore