Getting an elevator fixed or installed is not so simple these days across much of the metropolitan area because of a continuing dispute between the region's largest elevator companies and their unionized mechanics.þþIn March, the three companies that maintain 40 percent of the region's elevators - Otis, Kone and Schindler - locked out their 1,200 mechanics after negotiations for a new contract fell apart. Since then, the companies have been making do with service crews imported from their other locations or cobbled together from their office and supervisory staffs.þþAs a result, installation of equipment has stopped at several apartment complexes and commercial buildings, and some building managers report that repair crews sent to fix existing elevators have been slower to arrive. But other tenants and commercial clients said that, in their buildings, the temporary crews have done a surprisingly good job of keeping pace with repairs.þþÿEarly on I was very concerned,ÿ said Marie Purnell, 74, president of the tenant association at Starrett City, a 46-building residential complex in the East New York section of Brooklyn where Schindler maintains the aging elevators and had been installing new ones. ÿBut then as the time has gone on, it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated.ÿþþStill, the project to replace the elevators at Starrett City is now delayed while talks continue between the companies and members of Local 1 of the International Union of Elevator Constructors. Several construction officials said the labor dispute threatens to delay some projects in Manhattan.þþThe companies are scheduled to install the elevators in the new Hearst building being built on 57th Street at Eighth Avenue, the new research lab for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and 7 World Trade Center. At Stuyvesant Town, an apartment complex on the East Side of Manhattan, the replacement of elevators, work that tenant leaders say is badly needed, had to be suspended.þþÿThis situation is affecting large and small projects throughout the city,ÿ said Charles Murphy, general manager of the New York office for Turner Construction, which is involved in the Hearst and Sloan-Kettering projects.þþAny quarrel over elevator maintenance is a matter of anxiety in a city forested with high-rises. ÿWe're continuing to function but there is clearly a concern,ÿ said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents many of the city's largest landlords.þþÿObviously, they are not at full capacity,ÿ Mr. Spinola said of the companies, ÿand we want to make sure they are at full capacity.ÿ þþAccording to several construction executives, everyone in the industry is closely watching the dispute because any agreement with Local 1 is expected to set a precedent for the rest of the construction unions, many of whose contracts expire in a few weeks. The contract offered by the companies, one of whom services elevators at The New York Times, calls for a wage increase of 21.5 percent over four years. Local 1 members, who typically make about $65,000 to $70,000 year in base salary, are asking for a 23 percent package.þþThe companies are also seeking a change in construction site rules that would make installation work more efficient in an increasingly nonunion environment.þþPadraic D. Riley, spokesperson for the Elevators Manufacturers Association of New York, which represents the three companies, said, ÿWe need to get those productivity improvements to compete in this market.ÿþþTogether, Kone, Schindler and Otis install a large portion of the elevators in the metropolitan area and hold the maintenance contracts for 38,000 elevators and escalators, Mr. Riley said. Meanwhile, Local 1, with 2,900 members, is the largest of three unions that represent elevator workers in the region. In recent years the local has been blemished by a federal labor racketeering investigation that led to the indictment of several former leaders.þþThe union has already reached an agreement with 48 smaller companies in the region. But negotiations with Otis, Schindler and Kone fell apart on March 17 when the contract expired and the companies locked out the mechanics. The city immediately replaced Kone Elevator on a project at Shea Stadium so that everything would be ready for Opening Day of the baseball season, according to Matthew Monahan, assistant commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction.þþCity transportation officials said that Kone also initially had trouble keeping pace with breakdowns at the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan where riders board the Staten Island Ferry. ÿEscalators and elevators have not been serviced as quickly as we'd like,ÿ said Kay Sarlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, ÿbut the company has performed responsibly and made several repairs.ÿþþAt Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, though, officials canceled their contract with Otis after what they described as the company's failure to respond to several service calls. And Bradley Cohen, director of operations at BSR Management, said responses to repair calls in buildings he manages have been slower in the nine weeks since the lockout began. The mechanics showing up are competent, he said, but unfamiliar with the area.þþÿThey don't know where to park the car,ÿ he said. ÿThey can't find the key to the elevator. They don't know the idiosyncrasies of each elevator.ÿþþMr. Riley said the companies would not comment on individual contracts. But he said that the companies are convinced the lockout has not had an impact on service, an assessment shared by several tenant advocacy groups and large commercial landlords in interviews over the past week. ÿThings are running as normal,ÿ Mr. Riley said.þþNonetheless, elevator complaints filed in New York City for the period of the lockout are up 29 percent since it began, according to Building Department statistics. Jennifer Givner, a department spokeswoman, said the agency is not sure the increase is related to the labor dispute since the tally includes elevators serviced by all companies.þþAlthough a federal mediator has entered the talks, tensions do not seem be abating. In a letter to the membership last week, Local 1 President Raymond Hernandez acknowledged that several union mechanics have been charged with making threatening phone calls, damaging equipment or assault in cases related to the lockout. The union's leadership condemns any violence, the letter said.þþUnion leaders say the real safety issue is the company's use of what they describe as unskilled people to make repairs. ÿI've seen office cleaners trying to fix elevators,ÿ said Edward Krull, a union business agent. He said union mechanics receive four years of training and must pass a certification exam. þþMr. Riley said such comments were just a scare tactic. ÿPeople who are working on elevators are fully qualified,ÿ he said.þþMr. Spinola said the real estate industry hopes the impasse does not extend too much longer, recalling the last major labor battle in the elevator market, a strike in 1972. ÿThe last strike lasted seven months,ÿ he said. ÿThat's an unacceptable possibility.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
