Published: April 29, 2009

Cleaners at Wilmington Trust earn as little as $7.25 an hour

Wilmington, DE-With support from community groups and clergy, more than one hundred workers marched through downtown Wilmington, calling upon Wilmington Trust and other commercial building owners to hire responsible cleaning contractors that provide good wages and benefits, and respect workers’ rights.

“Our community cannot afford to do business with irresponsible contractors that short change the hard working men and women of Wilmington,” said Wayne MacManiman, 32BJ’s Mid-Atlantic Director. “We call on Wilmington Trust to be a responsible business and hire a cleaning contractor that pays its workers fairly and treats them with respect.”

Cleaners employed at the Wilmington Trust Corp. building, --a bank that has received $330 million from the federal bailout plan-- earn as little as $7.25 an hour, with no access to affordable and quality healthcare.

Optima Cleaning Systems Inc. the cleaning contractor, embarked on a campaign of intimidation and surveillance weeks ago, including photographing and videotaping union organizers as they attempted to speak to cleaners on public sidewalks.

“We want to join a union and have a better life,” said Maurice Hinson, a 55 year old office cleaner who has been working for Optima for 4 years. “We need a decent wage to make a living.”

32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the country.