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Coral Gables, FL—Four years after cleaners and landscapers at the University of Miami won their first union contract, the workers and the Boston-based cleaning contractor UNICCO are back at the bargaining table for a new agreement. The current contract, which expires on August 31, covers 400 cleaners and groundskeepers at the Coral Gables campus of the University of Miami and the University Hospital in Miami.
“Four years ago, the men and women who keep the University of Miami clean put their jobs at risk for fair wages,” said Eric Brakken, 32BJ Florida Director. 32BJ SEIU represents hundreds of buildings service workers in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. “These workers need a raise to be able to support their families in South Florida.”
The bargaining committee, represented by 32BJ SEIU, is looking for fair wage increases, maintained health care coverage and more paid sick days in the new contract. Under the current contract, the workers receive employer-paid health care, and starting wages for cleaners are $9.05 an hour.
“I need to work two jobs just to get by,” says Victoria Carbajal, a mother of four who works as a cleaner at the University of Miami. “Miami is expensive, and we need the raises to be able to live here.”
In the spring of 2006, cleaners at the University of Miami held a nine-week strike because of substandard pay, lack of health benefits and workplace safety issues. The strike ended with recognition of the workers’ union and a union contract that increased wages and provided health care and other benefits.
With more than 120,000 members in eight states and Washington, D.C., including South Florida, 32BJ is the largest property services union in the country.
updated 7/26/2010
