Published: December 18, 2009

After more than 9 months of fighting, janitors who keep Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase offices' clean in Delaware have won wage increases, health insurance, paid vacation and other benefits. The historic area-wide contract was negotiated with at least seven cleaning companies and applies to three-quarters of the commercial office buildings in Wilmington and New Castle County.

Many of the SEIU 32BJ janitors covered by this new contract were making as little as $7.25, with no health benefits. Now, they will see their wages rise to $9.25 by the end of the two-year contract--and for the first time, full-time workers will receive employer-paid health benefits. "What's striking about this is that the men and women who clean the very banks that prompted this economic crisis have successfully fought for higher wages," said Mike Fishman, President of 32BJ.

Here's a breakdown of the significant improvements the new two-year contract will bring the office cleaners.
BASELINE WAGES. Officers will receive

•          A minimum wage of $8 per hour or
•          A raise of at least 40 cents per hour.

WAGE INCREASES. Average hourly wages will increase as much as $2 over the life of the 2 years contract with

•          An annual increases of 70 cent an hour, effective January 2011.
•          A raise of 55 cents an hour on December 31, 2011 for Wilmington workers
•          A raise of 55 cents an hour starting January 2011 for New Castle County workers

HEALTHCARE. In both Wilmington and New Castle County for the first time,

•          ALL full-time workers will receive employer paid quality health care.

"This is the beginning to a better life," said Willie Grant, an Arthur Jackson office cleaner who has been working for almost three years for the cleaning contractor in Wilmington. "I suffer from a heart condition, thank God we're finally going to have healthcare." More about the janitors' hard-fought victory in the Delaware News Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer.