Janitors in SEIU Local 1 approve new three-year contract

The union representing janitors who clean city and suburban office buildings ratified a new contract Saturday for more than 8,000 janitorial workers.

Service Employees International Union Local 1 hailed the three-year deal as the best contract for janitorial workers in its history. It was approved a day before the current contract was set to expire.

The union secured benefits it had demanded during a rally this past week in the Loop. A 15% wage increase – the largest in the commercial market for SEIU Local 1 – highlights the new contract, along with employer-paid health care and better retirement benefits, the union said.

“Today is a historic day for the Local 1 janitors who fought for weeks to ensure they got the contract they deserved,” Local 1 President Genie Kastrup said in a statement. “Thousands of commercial janitors valiantly worked through the pandemic while everyone else stayed home … Local 1 janitors demonstrated what a worker-led movement should strive to be and I am so proud of their fight, this victory and the future.”

About 3,000 janitors who clean buildings including Willis Tower, Hancock Tower, Merchandise Mart and other iconic sites, were covered in a contract with the Building Owners and Management Association of Chicago (BOMA/Chicago).

Another 5,000 janitors who clean buildings across the suburbs were included in a contract with separate contractors, the union said.

A representative for the BOMA/Chicago could not be reached for comment.

Juneteenth was added as a paid holiday, and additional personal and sick days were added.

Janitors under the BOMA/Chicago agreement will receive $1.50-an-hour raises in the first year, then 75 cent raises the following two years. Suburban janitors will get a $1.25 pay increase the first year, a 75 cent raise the second year and a $1.20 raise in the final year.

Janitors’ current contract wages had fallen behind inflation by $1.91 an hour, the union previously said. SEIU Local 1 started discussing pay raises with the BOMA/Chicago last month.

“As part of the negotiation team, I am proud of the contract we fought so hard to win. This is a strong and fair contract that would not be possible without us standing together – suburban and downtown janitors together,” Local 1 suburban janitor Magdalena Muñoz said in a statement.

The trade association’s members include about 240 buildings and 170 companies that provide commercial building services. The union’s janitors service about 85% of Cook County’s commercial office buildings.

SEIU represents 50,000 workers throughout the Midwest, including janitors, security officers, airport workers, higher education faculty, food service workers and others.