Two former cleaning staff workers at American Dream mall in East Rutherford who were fired two years ago after trying to organize a union must be reinstated to their jobs with back pay, a three-judge panel ruled on Friday.
Jose Terán and Luis Varela worked for HSA Cleaning, Inc., a company contracted by mall, and were terminated for protected union activity, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.
The workers, who supported Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, were discharged via text messages on June 26, 2022, according to court documents. HSA said in the messages they were going “in a different direction,” court records show.
The labor relations board panel ruled Friday that HSA Cleaning has 14 days to rehire Terán and Valera at the same or similar positions and pay them what they were making before they were terminated.
The company must also compensate them for possible adverse tax consequences when they receive lump-sum backpay awards, according to the ruling.
HSA Cleaning, based in East Rutherford, was ordered to cease and desist from discharging or discriminating against employees who support the union or any other labor organization.
An attorney for HSA Cleaning did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment on the ruling. A spokesperson for American Dream mall was not immediately available to comment.
Court records show that American Dream contracted with HSA Cleaning in June 2020 to work the mega mall. At the time, HSA Cleaning was newly established and American Dream was its only client.
The company had about 150 employees, most of them cleaners, who were responsible for cleaning the interior of the 3-million-square-foot mall, but not retail tenant spaces or the parking lot.
The cleaners worked in three shifts throughout the day and overnight. In June 2022, the number of employees was reduced to 125, including 114 cleaners and eight shift supervisors.
The reduction in staff was due in part by demands made by the mall to reduce employee hours and the decision by HSA to eliminate the overnight shift, according to court records.
During the spring of 2022, Terán spoke on behalf of assembled workers that HSA management was unable or unwilling to address concerns workers had over unfair treatment by supervisors, including alleged harassment, favoritism, and threats of termination.
Around the same time, Varela began gathering signatures for a union petition.
On June 26, 2022, Varela and Terán each received a text message terminating their employment. “The company has undertaken evaluations and has decided to go in another direction and terminate your services,” the text messages read, in part.
In addition to rehiring Varela and Terán, HSA Cleaning was ordered to post in conspicuous places English and Spanish language notices to employees informing them that federal law gives them the right to “form, join or assist a union,” and to also “choose not to engage in any of these protected activities.”
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
