Some 5,000 janitors who work in downtown Chicago ratified their union contract with the Building Owners and Managers Association. About 4,500 janitors who work in Chicago’s suburbs approved their union accord with the Cleaning Contractors Association of Greater Chicago, the suburban building management.

According to the SEIU, these unionized janitors clean 95 percent of buildings in downtown Chicago and 87 percent in the suburbs. The downtown contract includes wage increases of 30 cents this year, 25 cents in 2004, and 25 cents in 2005. The new agreement means the starting wage for these union members will be $9.40 per hour, and will top out at $12.80 for those with more than four years on the job. These hourly rates will rise to $9.90 and $13.30 in the third year of the contract.

Historically, suburban janitors make substantially less money than their fellow workers downtown. The suburban contract includes a 45 cent increase the first year, 40 cents next year, and 40 cents in 2005, slightly narrowing the gap between them--from $1.05 to $0.95 for new hires.

Starting wage in the suburbs will now be $8.45 per hour. The most suburban janitors will earn, however, is $9.25 per hour, more than $3 below the downtown rate. Prior to the new contract, the wage gap for the top scale was $4.50 per hour.

Downtown and suburban janitors will now have full family dental coverage and reduced-cost prescription cards. Suburban janitors will also get short-term disability and some additional preventative medicine, including free eye exams. Effective Jan. 1, 2004, they get half-day paid holidays on Christmas Eve and New Years’ Eve.

Going into the ratification meeting, one downtown shop steward said she expected a strike, and that picket lines would likely go up at 5 p.m., April 6.

Three years ago, the downtown workers walked out for a day over a contract dispute. In the suburbs, a similar strike lasted 10 days. Suburban janitors, in particular, won modest but important concessions from the building owners for the first time, such as family health coverage at the end of the first year of the contract.

After the April 6 union meeting, one suburban janitor said she felt the new contract is "cheap." She pointed to the layoff of seven among 23 coworkers in her building by Equity Office. This company is one of many that say layoffs are the result of a depressed real estate market. The average vacancy rate is 15 percent for downtown Chicago office buildings. The Equity janitor emphasized, however, that the remaining 16 workers in her building now have to do more work on each shift to make up for the decrease in the number of cleaners.

"It’s not too bad," said downtown janitor Marta Peña, speaking of the contract several days later. "We got a raise, dental insurance for the kids, and a card for reduced-cost prescriptions." Peña also pointed out that the problem of the wage gap between downtown and suburban wages continues, even if it’s a little smaller.

"We are celebrating," said Graciela Olivares, another janitor from the suburbs. "We hoped for more, but the most important thing was the dental insurance."

Many of the union mobilizations leading up to the contract ratification showed a determination to fight and a high degree of unity among the multinational work force. The chants at an April 4 SEIU rally downtown held during pouring rain, for example, included Si se puede (yes, we can!), in several languages. The union had produced the leaflet for the action in English, Spanish, Polish, and Serbo-Croatian, reflecting the international composition of SEIU Local 1’s membership.

Lisa Potash is a sewing machine operator and member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).  
 
 
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