Downtown janitors reach tentative agreement on new contract
Milwaukee’s 500 downtown janitors, represented by Service Employees International Union - Local 1, on Tuesday evening reached a tentative agreement on a new 3-year contract with the companies that clean Milwaukee’s major commercial office buildings.
Milwaukee’s 500 downtown janitors, represented by Service Employees International Union – Local 1, on Tuesday evening reached a tentative agreement on a new 3-year contract with the companies that clean Milwaukee’s major commercial office buildings.
The new contract maintains wages for janitors while preserving a modest health insurance package. The previous agreement was set to expire July 31.
“Protecting the health insurance was the most important thing for us, and we’re satisfied that we were able to do that in this agreement,” said union leader Maria Sada, a janitor at Federal Plaza and a member of the contract bargaining team. “Had we failed, the next stop for members was BadgerCare and that’s not really an option in this state right now.”
The tentative agreement preserves janitors’ employer-paid health care for the next 16 months and contains a wage re-opener in Nov. 2013 to discuss health insurance issues.
The full union membership reconvenes this Saturday, Aug. 4, to vote on whether or not to ratify the new agreement, which remains tentative until approved.
Bargaining for the employers were American Building Maintenance (ABM), Modern Maintenance, Performance Clean, Regency Janitorial and Somers Building Maintenance (SBM). Other employer signatories to the tentative agreement include Harvard Maintenance and LBR Janitorial.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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