At a time when Houston’s wealthy corporations are making record profits yet working people are struggling to make ends meet, janitors won a new contract that improves jobs for working families and strengthens our economy. With wage increases and improved benefits, the agreement will pump an additional $3.6 million into the local economy over the next two years. “We stood together and won fair raises and protected our health care,” says Austroberta Rodriguez, who has been a janitor in Houston for nearly 32 years. “With each contract, we’re winning what we need to provide for our families and we’re building a better future for Houston."
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HOUSTON—After three days of negotiations, Houston janitors reached a tentative agreement that includes wage increases and improved benefits. The contract will impact the lives of 3,200 Houston janitors and their families, continuing their path out of poverty, and will help strengthen Houston’s economy by providing good jobs with benefits.
Today, on the day the janitors’ contract expires, 250 janitors and supporters are marching from Reliant Energy Plaza to the site of contract negotiations to rally for good jobs and to deliver strike pledges to employers signed by more than 1,800 janitors. Janitors are urging business leaders to reach a fair agreement that improves jobs for working families, strengthens our city’s economy and avoids repeating the struggles of 2006.