Union: Cafeteria workers face layoff at Stamford RBS building
STAMFORD — About 35 cafeteria workers at the Royal Bank of Scotland-owned office building at 600 Washington Blvd. are set to be laid off Friday, a move that is connected to the property’s imminent sale, according to the union that represents those employees.
Officials in the Unite Here union’s Local 217 chapter largely blamed the job losses on Rubenstein Partners, the Philadelphiabased real investment firm whom they said would be buying the downtown property from RBS. They also faulted the workers’ employer, Manhattan-based Restaurant Associates, whose foodservices contract at 600 Washington is ending.
“It’s unfortunate when companies like Rubenstein Partners buy and sell buildings and the working people inside lose their jobs and their ability to support their families,” Donald Jean Marie, a member of the Unite Here Local 217 executive board and a bellman at the Greenwich Hyatt hotel, said in a statement. “Add to that Restaurant Associates refusing to pay any severance pay, including to many people who have worked in that building for a decade or longer, and I just want to get sick.”
RBS declined to comment. Messages for Rubenstein Partners were not returned.
Other Rubenstein properties include co-ownership of the Shippan Landing complex in the city’s Shippan section.
Restaurant Associates sent a May 21 letter to the cafeteria employees at 600 Washington
“It’s unfortunate when companies like Rubenstein Partners buy and sell buildings and the working people inside lose their jobs ... Add to that Restaurant Associates refusing to pay any severance pay, including to many people who have worked in that building for a decade or longer, and I just want to get sick.”
Donald Jean Marie, Unite Here Local 217 executive board member
informing them that they would be laid off as a result of the contract termination. They attributed the loss of the business to a “decision ... by the client at RBS Stamford.” The job cuts were “not related in any way to your performance or ability.”
Company officials “met and continue to engage with representatives and many of our affected associates to discuss the impact of this situation and address their concerns,” a Restaurant Associates spokesperson said in an email Thursday.
“In addition to meeting our contractual obligations to the associates, which do not include severance pay, we have agreed to provide advanced payouts of certain monetary benefits, transitional assistance — including, but not limited to providing information on other external and internal job opportunities — resume preparation assistance and facilitation of on-site unemployment information sessions,” the spokesperson added.
The sale of 600 Washington is expected to be completed soon, but it has not yet closed, according to people familiar with the property.
Last June, long-embattled RBS announced that it would sell 600 Washington, but lease back its space there for 10 years.
Its decision reflected a cost-cutting plan in the wake of chronic financial and regulatory troubles, which led to more than 700 Stamford-based layoffs between 2015 and 2018.
The sale is not supposed to directly affect the approximately 500 employees who remain in Stamford and focus on RBS’ NatWest Markets corporate and institutional banking services.
In addition to its representation of the contingent at 600 Washington, Unite Here has organized workers at the Stamford Hilton and Sheraton hotels.
Last January, the Hilton union members unanimously approved a contract. They are the first group of Stamford hotel employees to unionize.
A month earlier, Stamford Sheraton workers voted to join Unite Here.
Throughout Connecticut, Unite Here represents about 3,000 hotel and food-service workers.