Strike averted after cleaning crews reach tentative agreement

Cleaning crews in many of the state's largest corporate buildings have reached a new union contract and will avert a strike.

Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ, intended to strike if a new contract agreement wasn't met by year's end.

Crews rallied in Hartford Tuesday. They protested contract negotiations but shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, a bargaining committee of commercial building cleaners and union officers reached a tentative agreement.

The contract will be voted on in the new year, however it will tentatively take effect on Jan. 1. Members will vote on the agreement on Jan. 6.

If approved, it'll offer 1,600 members "unprecedented wage increases" over the span of four years, totaling between 15.9 and 17.7%. Workers will also get two more paid days off and improved contributions to the pension fund.

The union, which represents workers in Hartford and New Haven County, argues that its members should be rewarded with a wage increase because of the risks they took during the pandemic.

Union crews clean some of the area’s largest office buildings – including The Hartford and Travelers insurance companies, the Gold Building, Pratt & Whitney and the State Capitol.

“This contract secures wage increases that allow our members to keep up with inflation, and it extends some important new benefits, like the Juneteenth holiday.  After the trials of the pandemic, which took many members’ lives and threatened countless more, it takes a big step toward ensuring a brighter future for them, their families and their communities," 32BJ SEIU Vice President Rochelle Palache said.

According to SEIU 32BJ’s most recent agreement with the Connecticut Cleaning Contractor’s Association, the minimum wage ranges from $16.20 to $22.73 per hour. That depends on job function and location. That agreement expires Dec. 31.

Wednesday marked the last day of scheduled negotiations.