Brooklyn slumlord may be charged for illegal lockout of workers

Federal labor investigators are considering charging accused Brooklyn slumlord David Bistricer for illegally locking out 70 workers from his Flatbush Gardens complex, at 1403 New York Avenue in East Flatbush. Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 70 handymen and porters stopped from working, filed the allegations with the National Labor Relations Board yesterday. “We’re determined to defend these workers in the face of a brutal employer lockout,” union spokesperson Kwame Patterson told the Daily News. Bistricer locked the workers out Nov. 29 after they refused to take a 30 percent pay cut, the union said. According to the charges, Flatbush Gardens management may have violated the law by failing to attach its most recent wage offer to lockout notices. “The NLRB has not asked Flatbush Gardens for its position on the charge, leading us to believe that the charge had no merit,” said Flatbush Gardens lawyer Robert Wold. He also accused the union of engaging in an “unlawful” effort to obtain above-market wages. The 59-building complex has also been plagued by high crime and conditions that have helped Bistricer land on a list of the city’s worst landlords. [NYDN]