It happened in 2002 in Boston. It nearly happened earlier this year in several New England states. And it could happen in Greater Hartford by year’s end if contract negotiations fall through between union leaders and the region’s major cleaning companies.
Union leaders met for a second time with cleaning company representatives to hash over wage and benefit issues. So far, there has been no resolution. If talks fail, it could get messy in downtown Hartford.
Looming large is the union’s threat that 90 percent of the city’s janitors would walk off the job, leaving the city’s large office towers — and major employers — with unkempt facilities.
Union leaders claim that the contract affects 1,800 of its members in Hartford County.
Higher wages and full health care coverage for full-time workers are the crux of the contract dispute, as well as the union’s demand for more full-time employment opportunities as a way to increase the number of union members receiving health care benefits. Union leaders maintain that many members are not eligible for health care benefits because they are not offered the opportunity to work full time.
Under the current contract, employees working 30 hours a week qualify for employer-paid health insurance, while those working fewer than 30 hours do not. However, part-time workers do receive prescription drug and vision benefits, and life insurance.
Higher Payroll In Hartford
However, cleaning companies in Hartford pay more per square foot. The average general contract payroll for cleaning services in the city is $1.31 per square foot versus 82 cents nationally, according to 2006 numbers from the Building Operators and Managers Association. BOMA didn’t have comparable numbers for other Connecticut cities: the nearest comparison comes from Providence, which doles out 89 cents per square foot for general contract salaries.
Contract negotiations will need to balance the needs of area cleaning companies to control costs with the union’s demand for better wages with benefits for janitors.
Kurt Westby, the SEIU 32B-32J local director, said it was too early in the negotiating process — begun with an initial meeting on Oct. 23 — to specify details of the union’s desired changes. But union officials want to ensure that wages keep up with the rising cost-of-living expenses and, perhaps more importantly, to protect health insurance coverage as premiums rise.
Workers like Luisa Sanchez, a full-time Middletown janitor, are watching the negotiations closely. Sanchez is recovering from breast cancer, which put her out of work for nine months as she underwent chemotherapy.
The 68-year-old has worked as a janitor for 20 years, earns $11.80 an hour, and relied on the employee-provided health care for her treatment.
“Having health insurance pretty much saved her life,” said Edgar Sandoval, a spokesman for the union who acted as a translator for Sanchez.
As for wages, Hartford County full-time janitorial staff members are paid between $10 and $12 per hour, Westby said. That’s about on par with the janitorial pay in other areas in the state, according to union data: janitors also are paid between $10 and $12 in Fairfield County, and $9 in the New Haven area.
But the cost of living keeps creeping up, he said, and workers want wages that will keep up with inflation for the length of the three- to four-year contract that is currently on the table.
Historically, “janitorial is a sweatshop industry; it’s a poverty industry,” Westby said. “[Union efforts are] trying to make inroads into something akin to lower-middle class.”
Near Miss In Mass.
Boston faced a two-month walkout in 2002, when thousands of janitors fought for higher wages, more opportunities for full-time work, and health care benefits for part-time workers.
Doug Bailey, a spokesman with Massachusetts-based cleaning company UNICCO, said this year’s negotiations in several New England states were a near miss: an agreement was reached with about one hour before union members were scheduled to start striking. When?
“The possibility for a strike always looms out there,” he said.
Other large companies, such as Capitol Carpet Upholstery and American Building Maintenance, are also gathering round the negotiating table, but company spokespeople also keeping quiet on specific contract demands.
Bailey was similarly mum on UNICCO’s replies to union demands, but said that the cleaning companies were aware that contracts need adjusting.
“Somewhere, we’ll meet in the middle,” he said.