Just one day before a potential strike, a bargaining committee representing over 2,100 janitors in Hartford, New Haven and other Connecticut towns reached a tentative agreement with the Hartford County Cleaning Contractors Association. The janitors had set a strike deadline of midnight, Dec. 31.
The four-year contract—subject to ratification – includes strong incremental wage increases totaling $1.60 an hour in Hartford and its suburbs and $1.70 in New Haven, protects health benefits for office cleaners and school maintenance workers, and increases members’ dedicated sick days. A strike looming could have affected over 100 buildings in Hartford, New Haven and other towns.
Negotiations between 32BJ SEIU and the Hartford County Contractors Association began on Nov. 19 and made little progress for weeks. Janitors then rallied in Hartford on Dec. 9 and met on Dec. 12 in New Haven and Hartford for votes that authorized the bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary.
“We are thrilled to have reached an agreement that’s good for workers and good for our communities in Hartford and New Haven,” said Juan Hernandez, 32BJ Connecticut District Leader. “This contract will give our commercial cleaners a fair wage increase, maintains their high quality, employer-paid benefits, and increases their dedicated sick time.”
The Connecticut settlement is the final one in of a series covering over 70,000 janitors on the East Coast that took place this fall— one of the largest collective bargaining campaigns in the country. With 145,000 members in 11 states–including more than 2,600 in Hartford County and New Haven–32BJ SEIU is the largest property services union in the country.
