Talks are under way between the union representing 2,000 office-building cleaners and nine firms that maintain such iconic Hartford area buildings as the State Capitol, Traveler’s Tower and the Aetna Inc. campus, on a new contract to replace one expiring at yearend, authorities say.
The cleaners, represented by 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, maintain some landmark buildings and corporate centers also including the Old State House in downtown Hartford, New Haven City Hall, and Wesleyan University in Middletown.
Building cleaners say they are paid $13.50 an hour under the current Hartford contract which expires at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Those covered by a separate New Haven contract earn $11 an hour, union authorities said. Most in New Haven and a significant number in Hartford are given only part-time cleaning jobs, seriously undermining their ability to earn enough to cover their family’s essential needs.Â
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“We are fighting for better wages and benefits,” Felipe Trevitazo, a cleaner at Bradley International Airport, said in a statement the union issued Thursday. “We pay taxes. We work hard. We should be able to have a decent life.”
Negotiations began Thursday on a Hartford contract. Bargaining has not yet begun on the New Haven deal.
