Workers at American Dream Mall ask Bergen commissioners to back living wages and call for county action

Cleaners who work under contract at the American Dream Mall and labor advocates told the Bergen County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday that they have endured low pay, alleged retaliation and workplace harassment and urged commissioners to adopt a resolution in support of the workers.

“Many of us were struggling to support our families on $17 an hour,” cleaner Barbara Castro said, describing two years of organizing and saying insurance offered by the contractors is inadequate and has led to medical debt. She and colleagues described strikes, rallies and public meetings over alleged unfair labor practices and said they want the mall’s owner and contractors to hire a responsible cleaning contractor that provides family‑sustaining wages and benefits.

Adrian Orozco, representing a union coalition of roughly 15,000 building cleaners and service workers in New Jersey, outlined allegations that a previous contractor illegally fired two organizing workers in 2022 — an NLRB finding led to reinstatement — and that the mall banned the two workers from the property for five years. He said the current contractor, Purely Local, pays poverty wages while the mall has received substantial public subsidies.

“We’re asking the board of commissioners to do what’s in your power to support the Dream Mall cleaners,” Orozco said, urging the county to adopt a resolution calling on the mall’s owner, Triple Five Group, to negotiate with workers and address outstanding payments to municipalities.

Speakers requested a formal county resolution to lend political support; no text of a county resolution was introduced at the meeting. Commissioners did not vote on a resolution during the public comment session. County officials indicated they would follow up with the speakers after the meeting.

Speakers and advocates referenced National Labor Relations Board findings, ongoing NLRB investigations, and a July 2022 reinstatement of workers involved in a labor charge. Advocates also noted the mall has received more than $1 billion in state and local subsidies and alleged unpaid PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) obligations to Rutherford and Carlstadt totaling $13 million; the county did not confirm those figures at the meeting.