Assembly should pass bill for office cleaners

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Published: December 5, 2005

While thousand of state workers are determined to fight to keep their generous pensions, hundreds of other employees who work in Trenton are struggling just to make ends meet. A Senate Committee passed a bill last week that would require private employers who are given contracts to clean state office buildings to pay their employees the prevailing federal wage for the job and to offer those worker health benefits.

If the Legislature is determined, as it ought to be, that it treats its office workers decently and provides them with an acceptable standard of living, both during their working lives and after, it also must pledge to make the same commitments to those who mop the Statehouse floors and clean its bathrooms. All workers deserve a living wage.

As it is, the prevailing wage for custodial work in the United State is reported to be about $13 an hour, which is far from capable of funding a plush lifestyle but is double what some janitors in Trenton receive.

By giving private cleaning contracts to the lowest bidder, the state has encouraged a race to the bottom of the wage pile from companies that seek its contracts. This new law not only would improve the working conditions for about 500 cleaners in Trenton but would encourage employers to do the right thing.

Besides, supporters say the more expensive cleaning contracts would be offset by the fact that it would no longer have to pick up health care and emergency room visits for these workers. The bill ought to be given a full hearing and the chance for a vote in the Assembly.

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