Published: December 21, 2007

Businesses in numerous commercial buildings in Montgomery County and Baltimore — including Discovery Communications’ headquarters in Silver Spring — could face untidy offices after New Year’s Day if negotiations on a new union contract with janitors fail.
Janitorial employees in Montgomery County and Baltimore have voted to strike if a new agreement is not signed by Dec. 31, union leaders said this week.

Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ rejected the latest proposal from representatives of a local cleaning companies’ group after meeting for the fourth time on Wednesday, said Jaime Contreras, the union’s Capital-area director. The pay raise offered was inadequate, he said.

Obtaining medical benefits is also a key issue in the negotiations, as employers want many cleaners to remain part-time and not qualify for health insurance, Contreras said.
Striking employees of cleaning service companies such as Red Coats of Bethesda could legally be replaced by workers from other areas, said Peter Chatilovicz, an attorney representing cleaning companies.

The agencies’ supervisors could also do the work until the issues are resolved, he said.
‘‘That’s not something we want to talk about, but obviously we have to provide these services to our customers,” said Chatilovicz, who works in the Washington, D.C., office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Hundreds of members of Local 32BJ have rallied in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Baltimore this month to demand higher wages and better benefits. Negotiations on a new contract covering 2,200 cleaners in Montgomery County and Baltimore, and 4,500 in Washington, D.C., started in mid-November.

The contract with custodial workers in Maryland expires Dec. 31, while the Washington pact does not expire until April.

‘‘We are hopeful that employers will come to their senses,” Contreras said. ‘‘Workers deserve better pay and benefits than they are getting.”

Commercial cleaners who are members of SEIU earn an average of $7.50 an hour in Montgomery and Baltimore, and $10.55 an hour in Washington, Contreras said.
The median hourly pay of janitors and cleaners in Maryland was $9.24 in 2006, well below that of all occupations in the state of $16.74, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Maryland’s average pay for cleaners was also lower than the national average in that category of $9.58. In Washington, the median pay for janitors was $10.79 last year.

The $9-an-hour wages go ‘‘very, very fast” when factoring in tuition payments at Montgomery College and other expenses, said Silver Spring resident Francisco Romero, an SEIU member who works for Red Coats.

‘‘Prices here are only going up,” Romero said last week at a rally outside Discovery Communications’ headquarters. ‘‘That’s why we’re here. ... We only want what’s fair.”
Scores of buildingsmay be affected

A strike could affect more than 40 buildings in Montgomery and some 35 more in Baltimore, union leaders said. Besides Discovery’s headquarters, other offices that could be affected include those in Bethesda Metro Center and Rock Spring Office Park in North Bethesda. The 40-story Legg Mason building in Baltimore — Maryland’s tallest — could also be impacted.

Executives from privately held cleaning companies Red Coats and USSI, also of Bethesda, did not return calls and e-mails this week seeking comment about their plans if workers strike.

Red Coats, with more than 4,000 employees and regional offices in Baltimore, Virginia and Florida, services about 50 million square feet of commercial and residential space daily, according to company information. USSI services some 25 million square feet of commercial space a day in Maryland, Washington, Northern Virginia and Florida, according to its Internet site.

Other companies involved that have Maryland operations include ABM Industries of San Francisco and UGL Unicco of Newton, Mass.

ABM, which provides cleaning services in 48 states and Washington, saw operating profit in its janitorial division increase by 7 percent in fiscal 2007 from 2006 to $87.5 million, according to company figures. UGL has more than 18,000 employees in North America, according to a news release.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has supported the janitors, even speaking at a union rally last week in Washington.

‘‘Economic security eludes many janitors, which both adversely affects our communities and could impact our county’s bottom line through increased reliance on public assistance,” Leggett wrote in a letter to commercial office building owners.

Suburban Maryland has one of the healthiest suburban office markets in the nation, with lease square-footage rates rising substantially in recent years, union leaders said.
Local 32BJ, which has about 9,000 members in Maryland and Washington, is also negotiating for new contracts that will expire New Year’s Eve in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Staff Writers Agnes Jasinski and Janel Davis contributed to this report.