Thursday, August 26, 2010

Update from SEIU on contract negotiations

SEIU spokesperson informs that talks between the union and UNICCO over a new contract for UM janitors and groundskeepers are over for the week, but the parties are still far apart on wages and time off.

Workers will be leafleting at Stanford and US1 to let folks know that with living in Miami on a starting wage of $9.05 is becoming harder and harder.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Blocked ad

Here is the text of an ad that was rejected (by the Board of Student Publications, not by the editorial staff of the Hurricane) for publication in the Hurricane, the student newspaper at UM:

We are nearly 400 cleaners and landscapers who keep the campus of UM clean and comfortable for students and faculty. We work hard every day but many of us can barely make it on $9.05 an hour.

We have been negotiating a new contract with the company UNICCO, but their wages freeze proposal is unacceptable. Food, rent, childcare… all are on the rise and our wages should rise too. Our proposal is fair and affordable and would help us to provide for our families.

We want to keep serving the campus but if left with no other option we may have to stop working as soon as September 1st. A strike would be hard for all, workers and students alike. We hope you understand if we have to stop working to protect our families and our future.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Proposals and counter-proposals

Here is a summary of the proposals by the UM janitors and groundskeepers and the responses to them from UNICCO. Click on image to enlarge.

Today, at the Episcopal Church.....

UM workers vote to authorize the bargaining committee to strike!

Deja Vu All Over Again: Four Years On.

Four years ago, workers janitors and grounds-keepers at the University of Miami, employed by the subcontractor UNICCO, went on strike to be allowed to form a union. After a long hunger strike, and with the support of students, faculty, clergy and local politicians, UNICCO agreed to recognize their membership in the SEIU. A four-year contract, with a living wage and a number of improvements in working conditions, was negotiated.

That was four years ago. Now the contract is up for renegotiation. The bargaining team for the workers have made a number of proposals for the new contract which have been rejected out of hand by UNICCO. Among these proposals are: 1) a new four-year contract; 2) a very modest 75c per hour wage increase to help offset the 9% increase in the cost of living in the last four years; 3) improved safety for workers at night; and 4) mandated rest periods for grounds-keepers when the temperature is above 100F. A further post will reproduce a more extensive list of the proposals.

Today, at the Venerable Bede Episcopal Church, the workers rallied and voted to authorize the bargaining team to call for a strike if a new contract is not agreed on by September 1st.

The strike four years ago was a harrowing experience for all concerned: the workers, students, faculty, and administrators. It is our fervent hope that another strike will not be necessary. But we are reviving this blog to provide information of developments and support for the workers. Should a contract be renegotiated successfully in the next couple of weeks, we will gladly lapse into quiescence again.

Watch this space!

Si se puede!

Story of today's vote on CBS

"Cleanup and landscape crews OK to strike" CBS 4 TV

SEIU Press Release concerning Contract Renegotiations at UM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, August 5, 2010

CLEANERS, LANDSCAPERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI REJECT PROPOSAL FOR NEW CONTRACT

– 4 Years Ago Workers Won First Union Contract after a 9-Week Strike –

Miami Beach, FL—Contract talks between the cleaners and groundskeepers at the University of Miami and the Boston based UNICCO remained far apart today as the cleaning contractor put forth unfair and unacceptable freezes on wages, health care, and other benefits that the nearly 400 workers and their families rely on to make ends meet.

“The cleaners and landscapers who keep the University of Miami clean cannot accept a wage freeze when the cost of living in Miami keeps going up,” said Eric Brakken, Florida Director of 32BJ. “We must make sure that working people can live in the city where they work.”

In the four years since the last contract, the consumer price index in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area jumped an 8.2 percent. The cost of housing, food and other everyday items is up more than 9 percent.

“We need these raises to be able to live in this expensive city,” says Guido Fluriel, a cleaner who works at the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami. “Times are tough and the cost of living is still going up.”

The bargaining committee, represented by 32BJ SEIU, is looking for fair wage increases, maintained health care coverage and more paid sick days in the new contract. Under the current contract, the workers receive employer-paid health care, and the starting wages for cleaners are $9.05 an hour, but despite the increasing cost of living in Miami, UNICCO’s proposal offered an across the board wages and benefits freeze.

In the spring of 2006, cleaners at the University of Miami held a nine-week strike because of substandard pay, lack of health benefits and workplace safety issues. The strike ended with recognition of the workers’ union, which ultimately led to a union contract that increased wages and provided health care and other benefits.

With more than 120,000 members in eight states and Washington, D.C., including South Florida, 32BJ is the largest property services union in the country.