Union Contracts Ratified for Building Cleaners across New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and Connecticut
Franklin Soults
32BJ of the SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, January 6, 2024
CONTACT:
Rush Perez, rup...@seiu32bj.org, 347-515-4386
Frank Soults, fso...@seiu32bj.org, 860-471-5692
Historic Union Contracts Ratified for nearly 12,000 Building Cleaners across New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and Connecticut
Cleaners in each region today completed votes in favor of two contracts that increase wages, expand paid time-off, and protect all existing benefits
STAMFORD, CT – Members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today completed ratification of two historic labor accords, one longstanding, the other brand new.
At in-person meetings in Hartford and New Haven this morning, 32BJ members ratified a new four-year agreement covering 1,600 cleaners employed by dozens of companies in the Connecticut Cleaning Contractors Association. Tentatively settled in Hartford on December 20, the agreement marks the latest installment in a contractual relation that has steadily raised standards for thousands of building cleaners across Central Connecticut over many decades.
At the same time, members who work across Fairfield County also voted this morning in support of the union’s first Tri-State contract, which unites 10,000 union members who live and work across the three states surrounding New York City. Tentatively settled December 22 in New York, the Tri-State agreement brings together dozens of individual contractors, most previously party to separate contracts—one covered 6,500 members in New Jersey, another more than 3,000 in the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County (known as the “Fairchester” agreement), while nearly 800 Long Island members fell under the main New York City contract.
Union members in New Jersey and the Hudson Valley voted in favor of the new Tri-State agreement at a series of in-person meetings on December 23, and members on Long Island followed suit at 32BJ’s Uniondale office on December 30. This morning, members came to the union’s office in Stamford from across Fairfield County and completed the ratification process with their overwhelmingly favorable vote (members in Danbury, which lies in the county’s northern extreme, joined the meeting remotely).
Both agreements will raise the wages of union members, expand their paid time-off, and protect all existing benefits. Though the exact amount of the wage increases and many other details vary according to geographic region, all the cleaners covered by the two contracts will see some of the largest raises they have ever enjoyed. Over the cumulative four-year life of the agreements, hourly rates for most members will rise up to 18 percent – a testament to the important work performed by a largely immigrant workforce that maintains the vast majority of commercial properties across the region, including everything from office buildings to universities, from shopping malls to high-tech factories.
“The new Tri-State agreement was no small feat,” said 32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich. “But the incredible combined leadership of the Hudson Valley’s Shirley Aldebol, New Jersey’s Kevin Brown, Long Island’s Lenore Friedlaender, and Connecticut’s Rochelle Palache, together with the dedication and hard work of the campaign team, our allies, and above all the members themselves, made this contract a reality.”
The same, Pastreich continued, goes for the “strong new contract” covering Central Connecticut, negotiated by a team also led by Palache and supported by countless members, elected officials, labor unions, and others.
The Central Connecticut and Tri-State contracts form cornerstones in 32BJ’s crucial “Building Justice” campaign, which has won strong new agreements for over 70,000 building cleaners across the East Coast over the past several months. The campaign marks the cleaners’ first new contract cycle since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, which directly threatened their livelihoods as well as their lives (over 200 union members succumbed to the virus). Despite unprecedented challenges posed by the post-pandemic economy, 32BJ successfully negotiated and ratified strong agreements in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware throughout the fall. Some 20,000 members in New York City will begin voting next week on their agreement that was tentatively reached on December 28. The campaign will end with the successful completion of negotiations on a contract for members in Florida, to replace an agreement that expires at the end of February.
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With more than 175,000 members in 12 states and Washington DC, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.
Franklin Soults
Regional Communications Manager (He/him)
Mobile: (860) 471-5692
Office: (617) 878-7513
@32BJSEIU