Illinois

Loop janitors ‘ready to strike,’ union chief says [Crain's Chicago Business]

Posted on April 5, 2012 by CJ Jones

April 03, 2012

Armed with a strike-authorization vote, the head of the union that represents janitors at most downtown office buildings says his members are quite prepared to walk out if they don’t get an acceptable new contract.

In a phone interview, Tom Balanoff, regional chief of the Service Employees International Union, said wages and health insurance are the key issues in talks between his members and a trade group that represents building management.

“We’re making some progress, but there’s a wide divide,” Mr. Balanoff said. “We certainly hope we’re able to reach an agreement, but we know our membership is ready to strike, believe me.”

Mike Cornicelli, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association, said his group is “confident that we will reach a mutually acceptable agreement.”

Traditionally the two sides have reached deals without a strike, though the SEIU did stage a one-day walkout several years ago.

At issue is a contract covering about 14,000 janitors in downtown and suburban offices, and at institutions such as Chicago Public Schools. The current contract is good only through next Sunday, April 8.

The union’s membership authorized a strike over the weekend. The union says the average janitor makes about $30,000 a year. Mr. Cornicelli says pay begins at $15.30 an hour, plus benefits.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120403/BLOGS02/120409967/loop-janitors-ready-to-strike-union-chief-says#ixzz1rC4g0fLz

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Chicago janitors authorize strike as contract deadline nears [Chicago Sun-Times]

Posted on April 5, 2012 by CJ Jones

Posted to SunTimes.com at 4/3/12 8:58 PM

By: FRANCINE KNOWLES Business Reporter/fknowles@suntimes.com

A contract covering more than 13,000 janitors who clean downtown Chicago
office buildings and other sites is set to expire Sunday, and workers
have authorized their union leaders to call a strike if an agreement
isn’t reached.

Service Employees International Union Local 1 is negotiating with
Building Owners and Managers Association Chicago, which is representing
roughly 230 building owners predominantly in downtown Chicago. The union
also is holding separate talks with a group of suburban contractors.

The union represents about 4,000 janitors at downtown commercial
buildings, 3,000 in suburban office buildings, 2,000 in public schools
and city of Chicago facilities and about 3,500 in malls, universities
and other buildings.

“The big issues are funding (health) insurance enough and wages,” said
Tom Balanoff, SEIU Local 1 President. “BOMA has made progress. We have
made progress towards insurance, but we’re not there yet. On wages,
we’re far apart.”

The union has made much less progress in talks with suburban
contractors, he said.

Michael Cornicelli, executive vice president of BOMA Chicago, declined
to discuss issues in the negotiations, but said he is “cautiously
optimistic” an agreement will be reached before the contract expires.

Union workers presently make $15.25 an hour, Balanoff said. He would not
specify what wage increase the union is seeking, but said, “What our
members are facing are what most working people are facing, from .
janitors to police to whatever. Between what has happened with the
economy, if they had homes they have no value left in them. If they’re
renting, that’s skyrocketing. We know what’s happening to grocery
prices, and we all buy gas. So we’re really at a point that we need to
get a decent wage increase to be able to start turning our lives
around.”

Without such an increase, he contended workers will be pushed into
poverty. The union says the annual income of the janitors is $20,000
below the cost of living for a family in Chicago.

Negotiations began March 7, and more talks are scheduled for Friday.

“We certainly would like to have things settled but if we don’t, we had
a very resounding vote of support from our members to strike if
necessary,” Balanoff said.

The union has typically reached agreement without striking. But in 2000,
workers staged a strike that lasted for two weeks in the suburbs and
one-day in downtown Chicago.

SEIU Local 1 members voted Saturday to grant strike authorization to
union leaders.

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On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination…

Posted on April 3, 2012 by izabelamiltko

***** News Advisory for Wednesday, April 4 *****

Contact: Izabela Miltko, (708) 655-9681 miltkoi@seiu1.org

Nell McNamara, (206) 852-5934 mcnamaran@seiu1.org

On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination,

Clergy and Community Leaders Join Janitors in Support of Good Jobs for Chicago

CHICAGO| Clergy, community leaders and Chicago janitors, who authorized a strike this past weekend, are holding a press conference outside ABM Janitorial Services Headquarters on Wednesday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m. On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, community leaders are standing up with local janitors who are continuing Martin Luther King’s fight for good jobs and a fair economy. Dr. King was killed while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

In the final days of contract negotiations, 13,000 janitors who clean downtown and suburban commercial office buildings, Chicago Public Schools, City of Chicago facilities, and Chicago’s airports are fighting for wages that would enable them to pay their bills and the health care they need for their families. As the janitors struggle to keep their families out of poverty, building owners and office space tenants like Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase are making huge profits. Chicago has the third highest poverty rate, the second highest foreclosure rate, and the highest rate of racial income disparity of any major city in the U.S. The poverty rate in Chicago for African Americans is nearly 30 percent and for Latinos it’s 20 percent. Yet Chicago is home to 27 Fortune 500 Companies and is sixth in the nation for cities with the most millionaires. These stark contrasts are reminders that the goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. have not yet been realized.

WHAT:                             Faith and community leaders join janitors in a press conference calling for good job and a fair economy on the Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination during sanitation workers strike in 1968.

WHEN & WHERE:        Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:30 a.m.

180 N. LaSalle St. – ABM Janitorial Services

WHO: -  Hundreds of SEIU Local 1 Janitors from the Chicago area and their families

-    SEIU Local 1 Community Supporters and Allies

VISUALS: United front of community members and janitors waving flags and holding signs saying “I AM A MAN, I AM A WOMAN, I AM A JANITOR, in homage to the posters used by Memphis sanitation workers and their supporters during their strike in 1968.

BACKGROUND: For the first time ever, SEIU Local 1’s janitorial contracts in all 11 cities expire in the same year. These contracts impact the livelihood of 22,000 Local 1 members and their families. Chicago-area janitors have been in contract negotiations since early March. Their contract, impacting more than 13,000 local janitors, expires on April 8.

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Thousands of Chicago Janitors Vote “Yes” to Authorize a Strike

Posted on March 31, 2012 by nellmcnamara

Local 1 janitors in Chicagoland clean the buildings and office space of some of the richest companies in the world. These corporations are making huge profits, but the janitors’ wages haven’t increased in real dollars in more than a decade. On Saturday, March 31, they voted to give their bargaining committee the power to call a strike.

The union hall was electric with energy as members filled every available space in the room and hundreds more rallied outside the doors. Voting by color – purple for yes, yellow for no – a sea of waving purple signs filled the standing-room only hall and the parking lot outside. The janitors, who are tired of working hard just to keep their families out of poverty, called on building owners and corporations to do their part and create good middle class jobs for our city.

After the YES vote, the janitors streamed outside to join their fellow members, chanting “We Are the 99%” and “Yes We Can!” in three different languages. A press conference broadcast the energy and the janitors’ message across the city. Janitors are ready to do whatever it takes to win better jobs for their families and communities.

“Like so many Chicagoans, I work hard and still worry how I’ll pay the rent or buy food for my family. I know the companies that own these buildings can afford to support good jobs for our families and our neighborhoods,” says Urszula Przybysz, a Chicago janitor.

Contracts for 13,000 janitors in Chicago expire on April 8. During the next week, the janitors will bargain with BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) for livable wages and critical benefits for their families. These janitors are struggling to get by on an annual income that is $20,000 below the cost of living for a family in Chicago.

“We hope Chicago’s major building owners live up to good business practices and support the good jobs with benefits that will help our economy grow,” says Tom Balanoff, President of SEIU Local 1.

The strong “yes” vote to authorize the bargaining committee to call a strike comes as our country is in the midst of massive public protest over the disappearing middle class and increasing income inequality between the richest 1% and the other 99% of the country. While the U.S. economy has grown by more than 80% in the past 30 years, a majority of those gains in wealth have gone to the richest Americans while income for 95 percent of American households has either stayed the same or fallen.

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Chicago Janitors Take Vote to Authorize Strike Today

Posted on March 31, 2012 by izabelamiltko

***** News Advisory for TODAY, March 31st ***** 

Contact: Leslie Mendoza Kamstra, (773) 896-7815 mendozal@seiu1.org 

                                      Izabela Miltko, (708) 655-9681 miltkoi@seiu1.org 

 In the final days of contract talks over good jobs, 

Chicago Janitors Take Vote to Authorize Strike 

Janitors Struggle on Low Wages While Building Owners are Making Profits 

CHICAGO| Chicago janitors who clean buildings owned by some of the wealthiest companies in the world plan to hold a vote today authorizing their bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary. 

Chicago janitors are struggling to keep their families out of poverty. Janitors and community supporters are calling on building owners and the richest corporations in the country to do their part and create good middle class jobs for Chicago. 

The vote comes underway as our country is in the midst of massive public protest over the disappearing middle class and increasing income inequality between the richest 1% and the other 99% of this country. 

WHAT:                               Vote to Authorize Strike  

WHEN & WHERE:            

Today, Saturday, March 31

 1 p.m.—Press Conference following a strike authorization vote  On the steps of Teamsters Hall, 330 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago

WHO:                                

 More than a thousand SEIU Local 1 Janitors from the Chicago area and their families

 Community Supporters, including other unions and clergy members

VISUALS:                            Waving over 200 large bright yellow and purple flags, more than a thousand   Chicago janitors, supporters and their children will cheer and chant on the steps  of Teamster’s Hall

 Waving large banners and vote signs

 

BACKGROUND: For the first time ever, SEIU Local 1’s janitorial contracts in all 11 cities expire in the same year. These contracts impact the livelihood of 22,000 Local 1 members and their families. Chicago-area janitors have been in contract negotiations since early March. Their contract, impacting more than 13,000 local janitors, expires on April 8.

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Chicago Janitors Take Vote to Authorize Strike

Posted on March 29, 2012 by izabelamiltko

***** News Advisory for Friday and Saturday, March 30th and 31st *****

Contact: Leslie Mendoza Kamstra, (773) 896-7815 mendozal@seiu1.org

Izabela Miltko, (708) 655-9681 miltkoi@seiu1.org

In the final ten days of contract talks over good jobs,

Chicago Janitors Take Vote to Authorize Strike

Janitors Struggle on Low Wages While Building Owners are Making Profits

CHICAGO| Chicago janitors who clean buildings owned by some of the wealthiest companies in the world plan to hold a vote on Saturday authorizing their bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary. Local janitors, who make about $30,000 a year, are struggling to keep their families out of poverty. Janitors and community supporters are calling on building owners and the richest corporations in the country to do their part and create good middle class jobs for Chicago.

On the eve of the strike authorization vote, janitors and community supporters will rally in front of the building where contract negotiations with BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) are underway. The vote and rally come as our country is in the midst of massive public protest over the disappearing middle class and increasing income inequality between the richest 1% and the other 99% of this country.

WHAT:                             Janitors Rally; Vote to Authorize Strike

WHEN & WHERE:        Friday, March 30

3:30 p.m.—March ending in a rally outside bargaining on the eve of the vote
On the streets outside 111 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago

Saturday, March 31

1 p.m.—Press Conference following a strike authorization vote

On the steps of Teamsters Hall, 330 S. Ashland Ave., Chicago

WHO: Hundreds of SEIU Local 1 Janitors from the Chicago area and their families

Community Supporters, including other unions and clergy members

BACKGROUND: For the first time ever, SEIU Local 1’s janitorial contracts in all 11 cities expire in the same year. These contracts impact the livelihood of 22,000 Local 1 members and their families. Chicago-area janitors have been in contract negotiations since early March. Their contract, impacting more than 13,000 local janitors, expires on April 8.

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Estás Viendo: Decenas de mujeres protestan por bajos salarios [Univision Chicago]

Posted on March 8, 2012 by nellmcnamara

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On International Women’s Day… Working Women in Chicago Call on Corporations to Do More

Posted on March 8, 2012 by nellmcnamara

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

March 8, 2012

Contact: Nell McNamara, (206) 852-5934 mcnamaran@seiu1.org

Izabela Miltko, (708) 655-9681 miltkoi@seiu1.org

On International Women’s Day…

Working Women in Chicago Call on Corporations to Do More

Chicago janitors making $20k less than our city’s cost of living ask billion dollar companies, whose buildings they keep clean, to do more for working women and families

CHICAGO –As unequal pay for equal work continues to plague women in Chicago and across the world, hundreds of Chicago janitors and supporters rallied on Thursday at the Chicago Board of Trade and the Willis Tower. With an annual wage that is $20,000 below the cost of living for a family, women janitors in Chicago are struggling to provide for their families. At the same time, the corporations whose offices these janitors clean are making record profits- the Chicago Board of Trade alone profited $1.8 billion in 2011. As they bargain together for better jobs, the hard working women of this city called on the richest corporations to do their fair share and create good middle class jobs for Chicago.

“We work so hard to provide for our families, but we are struggling to make ends meet,” says Elizabeth Deshazo, a janitor in downtown Chicago. “It’s not fair that CEOs of big corporations make more in just one day than we janitors do in a year. I dream of a more balanced economy where my ten grandchildren will be able to have a better future.”

International Women’s Day fell on the backdrop of the janitors’ contract negotiations this week, which will impact more than 13,000 janitors in SEIU Local 1. Those janitors—many of whom are women—are uniting to create a pathway out of poverty for their families and a better future for their children. SEIU Local 1’s janitorial contract expires on April 8.

Laura Garza, Vice President at SEIU Local 1 and Director of the Commercial Division, was out recognizing the progress that women have made while preparing for contract negotiations. “Women today are still paid 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. But unionization is proven to raise female workers’ wages by two dollars an hour. Uniting together and bargaining a fair contract helps women get access to decent wages, affordable family health care, and a voice on the job. That’s what we are fighting for now.”

Women in unions are better able to provide for their families and ensure a better future for their children than those without a union. Bargaining a new union contract with fair wage increases will enable Chicago janitors to make ends meet, but that alone won’t restore balance to the economy. That’s why Chicago’s janitors joined with working women across the city to call on banks and corporate executives to do their part to fix our economy—to create good jobs, raise wages, and pay their fair share in taxes.

SEIU Local 1 unites 50,000 property service workers in the central United States, including janitors, security officers and residential doormen.  Together we work to build strength for all working people, on the job and in our communities.

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Union Janitors March For Fair Wages, Equal Pay For Women [Progress Illinois]

Posted on March 8, 2012 by nellmcnamara

By: Brandon Campbell

Hundreds of janitors from SEIU Local 1, joined by women’s rights activists and other supporters, rallied outside the Chicago Board of Trade building Thursday afternoon.

In an effort to tie pending contract negotiations with International Women’s Day and women’s equality issues, such as equal pay for equal work, the group is demanding “fair wage increases.”

“Women today are still paid just 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts are paid,” said Aleksandra Figus, who has been a janitor for 28 years. “But unionization raises female workers’ wages by $2 an hour.”

In a press release, the group said they also want Illinois’ corporations to create more jobs, while raising wages and rejecting tax breaks.

At about 4 p.m. after the first of hundreds of supporters came together outside of the Board of Trade building at Jackson and LaSalle Streets, the group, aided by traffic support from the Chicago Police, marched to Willis Tour.

Supporters waved yellow and blue SEIU* flags and carried signs with slogans such as “I will take a pay cut when a CEO cleans my toilet.”
Thursday’s rally came as SEIU Local 1 officials began contract negotiations on behalf of its 13,000 janitorial employees this week.

During the rally, Nell McNamara, an SEIU spokesperson, told Progress Illinois that the union’s contract is slated for renegotiation every three years. She said the union workers typically get the raises in pay and benefits they’re looking for, but those increases pale in comparison to other industries.

“The top CEOs make more in just one day than janitors do in a year,” said Elizabeth Deshazo, who has worked as a janitor at 150 North Clinton for about 18 years.

Across the street from Willis Tower, Deshazo asked the crowd if that seemed fair, to which they responded “No.”

Here’s more form the rally:

This isn’t the first rally the group has held on this issue. The gathering of janitors held similar functions in February, which brought out 3,000 supporters, and back in September, when supporters in 22 cities across the country joined to rally for fair wages.

“We’re the ones who make America work,” said SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff at the end of the rally. “And the janitors are here to say we will not settle our contract until our benefits are protected, and we get a real wage increase with real money in our pockets.”

The janitors’ contract is scheduled to expire on April 8.

* The SEIU Illinois Council sponsors thsi web site.

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2012/03/09/union-janitors-march-fair-wages-equal-pay-women-video


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Fair Wages, Equal Pay – SEIU Local 1 Rally at Willis Tower [Progress Illinois]

Posted on March 8, 2012 by nellmcnamara

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2012/03/09/union-janitors-march-fair-wages-equal-pay-women-video

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