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Published: December 29, 2007
Thousands of office cleaners in the District, Montgomery County and Baltimore reached a tentative agreement late Thursday on four-year contracts, avoiding a strike, union officials announced.
The Service Employees International Union said the contracts would provide wage increases of up to 28 percent over four years and better health-care benefits. Union members still must ratify the contracts.
"These contracts . . . will help lift cleaners out of poverty," Mike Fishman, president of the SEIU Local 32BJ, said in a written statement.
The agreement was reached with the Commercial Building Cleaning Contractors Association, which represents cleaning contractors including Red Coats, American Building Maintenance and Unicco.
Contracts covering about 2,200 cleaners in Baltimore and Montgomery County were to expire Monday, and workers threatened to strike next week. Contracts covering 4,500 D.C. cleaners were to expire in April.
Some of the buildings that could have been affected by a strike included the headquarters of Legg Mason in Baltimore, the Discovery Communications offices in Silver Spring, and large office buildings in Bethesda and Rockville.
The contract with the District cleaners calls for a 24 percent pay increase over the next four years. For the first time, all part-time cleaners would receive life insurance, employer-paid family benefits for prescription drugs, and dental and vision care.
The agreement calls for a 27 percent pay increase in Montgomery County and 28 percent in Baltimore. Cleaners in both areas also would receive up to two weeks vacation and employer-paid family prescription drug coverage.
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