Syracuse, NY -- Union workers at Coyne Textile Services staged an informational picket Friday to send a message to the company’s owners that they deserve a contract and a raise. Local 2607 workers have been working for the company since May 22 without a new contract, said Eduardo Jofre, the union’s business representative. About 45 workers belong to the...
Local 2607 workers picketing at Coyne Textile Service about 2 p.m. on Cortland Avenue. Syracuse, NY -- Union workers at Coyne Textile Services staged an informational picket Friday to send a message to the company’s owners that they deserve a contract and a raise.
Local 2607 workers have been working for the company since May 22 without a new contract, said Eduardo Jofre, the union’s business representative. About 45 workers belong to the union and many of them took part in the picket from 2 to 4 p.m. in front of the building on Cortland Avenue in Syracuse.
“We’ve been meeting for a couple of months and we thought it was time to let the management know that this is unacceptable,” Jofre said. “These are hard-working people and they aren’t asking for a lot.”
Thomas Coyne, who could not be reached for comment Friday, owns Coyne Textile Service. Workers at the Syracuse location clean industrial laundry such as uniforms, mats and rugs. Coyne Textile Services is one the country’s leading privately owned commercial laundry companies, in business for more than 75 years, according to the company’s website. It has 29 locations across the country, with headquarters are in Syracuse.
Jofre said the union wants at least a 25-cent-per-hour raise and new contract.
“Tommy Coyne is offering a $300 bonus,” Jofre said. “We don’t want a bonus, we want a raise. These people deserve a raise. Most of them are making minimum wage and work two or more jobs.”
Charlotte Rowe, 69, of Syracuse has been working for the company for 48 years. She has her own thoughts about why there has been no raise.
“It’s greed. They have to bring some money to the table,” Rowe said about the Coyne management. “These people who work here can’t live on minimum wage. How are you supposed to feed a family on minimum wage? We’re not asking for much.”