Unionized commercial office cleaners in Montgomery County and the D.C. region reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Washington Service Contractors Association on Tuesday. Among the major changes is a bump of $3.55 to $3.75 in hourly wage pending ratification.
The tentative agreement ends a month’s long bargaining process that began in June, according to a press release.
On Oct. 5, around 50 county office cleaners who are members of the 32BJ SEIU (Service Employees International Union) marched along Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Bethesda calling for wage increases ahead of the Oct. 15 expiration of their contract. They said if a contract agreement had not been reached by the expiration date, they would strike on Oct. 16.
“These men and women proved that collective action has the power to improve jobs and lives, just like other low-wage workers deserve nationwide,” 32BJ Executive Vice President, Jaime Contreras said in the press release.
According to the release, the new contract will cover about 9,100 workers in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Arlington, Fairfax and Loudon counties as well as Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. 32BJ SEIU has more than 175,000 members in nine states, including 21,000 in the D.C. region and Baltimore area and is the largest property service workers union in the country, per the release.
The 32BJ union said in the release that they will hold ratification votes in each region next week.
The hourly wage increases of $3.55 to $3.75 over the new four-year contract will help lift the wages of cleaners who currently earn between $12.50 and $18.60 per hour, depending on the market, according to the release.
At the downtown Bethesda protest, office cleaners told MoCo360 that a wage increase was especially needed because it would help them deal with skyrocketing inflation and rent.
Full-time and part-time cleaners will be able to maintain health care and life insurance benefits and continue to have access to free professional training, language courses and legal services, as part of the new contract, according to the release.
The contract also lets full-time cleaners keep their employer-paid health care, with prescription drugs, dental, vision and life insurance included, and part-time cleaners will continue to receive life insurance and family dental benefits.
Montgomery County councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), state delegate Jared Solomon (D-Dist. 18) and state Senator Jeff Waldstreicher (d-Dist. 18) attended the Oct. 5 march in support of the custodial workers.
Additionally, 45 lawmakers, including County Executive Marc Elrich (D), County Council president Evan Glass (D-At Large) and councilmembers Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large), Will Jawando (D-At-Large), Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4), Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), Gabe Albornoz (D-At-Large), and Fani-González signed a pledge of support for a fair contract.
