Published: September 19, 2008

Local 32BJ, the biggest property service union in the country, filed a complaint against the Fairfax based cleaning services company Golden Gate.

The workers, many of them working for more than five year for $7 an hour and with minimum social benefits, said that they are victims of threats to prevent them from joining the union.

¨Golden Gate's attitude is illegal. This company can not impede these worker to get organized and improve their working conditions. Said to Washington Hispanic, Jaime Contreras, Local 32BJ Capital Area Director. The charges filed at the National Labor Relations Board  (NLRB)  aim to prove that workers have the right to get organized in a union. Contreras said that it is also part of a campaign started in Virginia to organize at least 80% of maintenance workers in the State. ¨Right now we have organized 60% of the workers in the sector and 4 contractors are  offering resistance. Said Contreras.