Hartford, CT – The 32BJ SEIU Bargaining Committee has announced a tentative agreement for four-year contracts covering 2,000 office building cleaners in the Hartford and New Haven areas. If ratified by union members, the wages of building cleaners represented by 32BJ would increase each year over the four years covered by the contract.
“This agreement will help 2,000 hardworking men and women better support their families, which will contribute to our state’s future economic growth,” said Kurt Westby, Connecticut State Director for 32BJ. “It is a win for Connecticut’s working families, businesses, and taxpayers.”
Over the next four years, minimum hourly pay for cleaners will increase from the current rates of: $11 in New Haven; $12.25 in suburban Hartford; and $13.50 in downtown Hartford. In addition, cleaners will continue to get healthcare coverage and other benefits. The agreement reached Wednesday covers two contracts, one for New Haven and one for Hartford.
Anthony Marcel, who has worked five years as a building cleaner at the University of Connecticut at Storrs and who sits on the 32BJ Bargaining Committee, said the contract talks were “hard at first. We were prepared to strike if they kept insisting on a wage freeze. This is a fair agreement.”
“For most of my coworkers the most important part is holding onto the healthcare coverage. For me, the most important thing is the wages,” said Marcel, who is struggling to keep up with his house payments and other bills.
Contract talks began in mid-November between 32BJ and the Hartford Area Cleaning Contractors Association. The breakthrough came Wednesday after top elected officials in the state began calling for the two sides to find common ground and avert a potentially disruptive and damaging strike. Governor Dannel Malloy, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) and John Larson (CT-1) all issued statements in the past two days. On Wednesday afternoon, during a break in the contract talks, Blumenthal also visited the 32BJ offices, shook hands with workers and called again for a fair deal.
32BJ members clean some of Connecticut’s most important corporate centers and landmark buildings including the State Capitol, Travelers’ Tower and Wesleyan University. In New Haven the list includes: City Hall, Long Wharf Maritime Center, One Century Tower, and the Connecticut Financial Center.
With 120,000 members in eight states, including 4,500 in Connecticut 32BJ is the largest property service union in the country.
For more information, visit www.standwithbuildingworkers.org .
updated 12/28/2011
