Contract talks reach turning point as frustration grows over economic divide between wealthy corporations and city’s struggling workers, neighborhoods

Cincinnati – Hundreds of janitors who clean the majority of Cincinnati’s office space voted today to authorize their bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary in the coming weeks. The overwhelmingly affirmative vote means janitors representing the more than 1,200 janitors who clean the majority of the area’s office space could call for a city-wide strike at any time. 

“No one wants to have to strike, but we’re ready to fight if that’s what it takes to win good jobs for our families,” said Sara Shamel, a janitor with ABM and member of the janitors’ Bargaining Committee who lives in the West End. “Right now, many of us have to choose between paying for food and paying the rent—no one should have to live like this.”

Cincinnati janitors have been negotiating with their employers—cleaning companies ABM, Jancoa, Professional Maintenance of Cincinnati, Aetna Building Maintenance, Scioto Corp, NSG, OneSource, and GSF—since early March over increased pay, access to health care, and more work hours. Janitors are currently paid as little as $28 a day with no health or other benefits.

Growing Economic Divide Threatens City’s Economic Future

Although another round of talks are scheduled for July 25, the janitors’ vote takes place during a week when workers’ frustration over the deepening divide between the wealthy corporations and the struggling neighborhoods just blocks away has already resulted in the arrests of several janitors and supporters. On Wednesday, four janitors and two supporters were arrested as they appealed to Fifth Third Bank to support the good jobs with health care that will help revitalize Cincinnati’s neighborhoods. 

Despite being home to Fortune 500 companies and other major corporations with combined revenues of $177 billion annually—including Fifth Third Bank, Procter and Gamble, Macy’s, Convergys Corp, and Western & Southern—the region’s high number of low-wage, no benefit jobs is increasingly stifling working families’ ability to lift themselves out of poverty.

“Our neighborhoods need good jobs—and our corporate leaders need to be part of the solution,” said Pastor Gregory Chandler, President of the AMOS Project and pastor of the World Outreach Church in Roselawn.

Local, National Support for Cincinnati Janitors

The janitors’ effort has won broad support from community leaders in Cincinnati. Nearly 60 community, religious and elected leaders, churches, and organizations in Cincinnati are standing with janitors in the struggle for their first union contract, including Reverend Rousseau O’Neal, President of the Faith Community Alliance, Douglas Sizemore, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Pastor Gregory Chandler, President of the AMOS Project, and Sister Alice Gerdeman of Intercommunity Peace and Justice, as well as organizations including Interfaith Worker Justice, UFCW, UNITE-HERE, and other member unions of the national Change To Win labor federation.

“Cincinnati janitors’ fight is really relevant to our community because so many of our neighbors are facing the same challenges,” said Reverend Rousseau O’Neal, President of the Faith Community Alliance and head of the Rockdale Baptist Church. “Our church begins every week with a pantry full of food that is emptied by the end of the week people who have jobs but they can’t afford to make ends meet without the good-paying jobs Cincinnati needs.”

SEIU janitors from other cities have also come to Cincinnati to support janitors’ efforts to improve their lives. Janitors in cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Indianapolis have begun to take actions in their home cities in support of Cincinnati janitors, many of whom work for the same large, national cleaning companies. Janitors in these cities have pledged to do whatever it takes to help Cincinnati janitors win a fair contract. 

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