Saturday’s ratification follows a similar vote by janitors at the Cleveland Orchestra in February and is part of the union’s efforts to build momentum and awareness as major downtown contracts will be negotiated in the coming months.
The campaign, called “One Cleveland,” is premised on the idea that all Clevelanders should benefit from an economic resurgence downtown. It is dramatized by the fact that many of the union’s members are women of color. Many are employed by downtown buildings that have seen enormous public subsidies and yet many struggle to make ends meet.
“There’s no doubt that as janitors in this city, we are building momentum,” said Kathy Curlee-Jones, a Tri-C janitor, in a statement released by SEIU. “The fact that $15 is becoming the standard is evidence that when people of all racial backgrounds stick together, everybody wins. We need $15. Cleveland needs $15. We can do this.”
The new Tri-C contract will inject nearly $2 million into Cleveland’s economy, SEIU said, and will be an infusion of funds into Cleveland’s most neglected neighborhoods. Curlee-Jones, for example, told Scene that she lives on the southeast side, near Cleveland’s border with Garfield Heights.
She said annual raises, and ultimately $15, will give her some “breathing room” in her monthly budget. She’s hopeful she might be able to put away a small part of her paycheck for emergencies. Like many of her colleagues, her paycheck is currently used entirely for bills and necessities, and she routinely has to get on payment plans for past-due bills.
The significant wage increases are important for the day-to-day lives of janitors, but the five-year Tri-C union contract includes other benefits as well, including additional paid time off, sick days and holidays.
You can read SEIU’s full report, “A Tale of Two Clevelands,” here.
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2019.
Companies out west gave $15 per hour and cancelled all other benefits the company provided.
I was touching to hear cutlee-jones say she was going to put some money away. How laughable is that. I though she didnt have enough to live on and now suddenly shes going to save? Ridiculous and fake anecdote. Im sure she has beautiful corn rolls and fancy fingernails. I guess those are necessities on the border of Garfield Heights.
The SEIU is pathetic. How much are the Union bosses making? $15 an hour? Are they intimidating those that dont want to be in the union?
Im DC I saw Union janitors lose out to cleaning firms hiring illegals that worked for less and werent in the union. What to do. Do we support illegals or do we support living wages for American workers? The sad answers is illegals have more clout.
But in any case, unions intimidate and extort. And the pawns keep playing along. Of course Im a couple years when they are unemployed by technology and poorer than now, theyll realize how they were played.
Well, these are the kind of things that happen when the sheeple voters of Cleveland vote yes for every single tax levy AND tax renewal thats on the ballot at every election cycle!!!
Its time to start voting NO!!!