By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Thousands of Macy’s workers are threatening to strike unless a new contract is secured by midnight June 15.
Nearly 4,000 workers from stores across the region have authorized Local 1-S of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union to call a strike if a deal is not reached by the time their old contract expires on Wednesday, the union announced Monday.
"No one wants to strike, we all want to secure a new contract, but our workers are prepared to strike and to stand up for fair wages, benefits, and hours," Ken Bordieri, president of Local 1-S, said in a statement.
Macy's spokeswoman Elina Kazan said the company has been meeting with the union daily working towards a resolution and downplayed the significance of the vote.
"A vote by the Union to authorize a strike is an expected part of the process during contract negotiations," she said in a statement.
More than 200 union leaders and Macy’s workers filled the streets outside the department store's 34th Street flagship last week to demand better compensation.
Workers say the company is pushing for a series of "unreasonable" concessions they fear will drive down wages, compromise benefits and undermine seniority at a time when the company is thriving.
"This is a textbook case of corporate greed and excess. Macy’s is in a position to give its workers a much better contract," RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement.
Many Macy's workers make as little as $7.50 an hour, the union says.
But Macy's says the terms it has offered are "among the best" of department stores in the city and across the country.
"Our goal is to come to terms amicably with the Union to prevent any work stoppage at our 4 metro New York City stores," Kazan said.
Macy's workers at the union last went on strike in 1972.
