Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

44° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Union, companies settle

For the union leaders representing Northwestern’s contracted janitors, negotiations with the contracting companies Tuesday meant settle or strike — and when the whirlwind of proposals calmed, there was a deal.

After two days of intense talks, the union and the three companies reached a tentative three-year agreement to raise the wages of the contracted janitors and improve their benefits, avoiding a strike the janitors had authorized Saturday.

The agreement will raise the starting hourly wages of the about 150 contracted janitors to $8.45 from as little as $6.65 and also will give them full family health insurance beginning in the contract’s second year.

During the past several weeks, leaders of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1, had campaigned at NU for Aramark, Kimco Staffing Services and Millard/Admiral Maintenance to pay wages and benefits in line with those given to contracted janitors at other Chicago-area universities.

The union said the workers at other schools receive wages of $10 to $13 per hour along with health benefits.

“I think this shows that the contractors and the university have made a serious commitment to reducing the inequalities that exist, and we think it’s an excellent first step,” union organizer Jeff Danielski said.

Representatives of the companies, which had created contingency plans in case of a strike, also said they were happy to reach an agreement.

“We’re most pleased with the end result,” said Neil Stein, Aramark’s Chicago human resources director who acted as a spokesman for the three companies during the negotiations.

“We care deeply about our employees, and we really want to make sure they have good benefits and are compensated properly,” he said.

Though the companies each paid different minimum wages, the agreement will boost all the wages to $8.45 per hour starting Sept. 1, 2002. Under the former contracts, according to Stein, the minimum hourly wages were $6.65 at Millard, $6.95 at Aramark and $7.25 at Kimco.

Included in the deal are two additional paid holidays per year and more paid vacation time.

Ken Munz, political and communication director for Local 1, said the union leaders were “very happy. Clearly we had a huge mountain to climb here.”

Though the agreement still leaves NU’s contracted janitors with wage rates below those at other Chicago-area universities, Munz said, he agreed with Danielski that the deal signified strong progress.

“I think we made a good inroad toward decreasing the discrepancy,” Munz said. “You can’t get there all in three years.”

The contracted janitors, who work at about 70 NU buildings, still have to ratify the agreement, but union organizers say they expect this approval to come in the next several days.

Though NU officials were not present at this week’s meetings, the university will play a part in finalizing the agreement. The companies will have to change their contracts with NU to pay for the higher wages and health insurance, Aramark’s Stein said.

Local 1 began to push for the improved wages and benefits Oct. 19 when union leaders and a small group of NU contracted janitors and students attempted to meet with University President Henry Bienen.

The public campaign at NU continued with several days of fliering on campus and an Oct. 31 rally at The Arch that drew more than 200 people.

During these attempts to persuade NU to press the companies for improvements, university administrators maintained they would not become involved in the situation.

On Tuesday, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Eugene Sunshine, who handled the situation for NU, said he was pleased the union and the companies reached an agreement.

“An agreement denotes both sides were satisfied, and that’s what we were hoping,” he said.

Even after weeks of being accused by the union of paying “poverty wages,” the companies’ leaders said they were satisfied with the deal.

“We’re thrilled that it’s settled,” Kimco President David Tarson said. “We certainly think it’s an equitable solution.”

Tarson said the agreement for the university janitors was “customary for the area that they’re in” and “more than competitive.”

Representatives from the companies met with Sunshine on Friday to discuss the negotiations. At the meeting, Sunshine said he repeated that NU would not get involved.

“It was between the contractors and the union to work this out, and they did,” he said.

According to union organizers, the companies called them to set up Monday’s negotiation session after the meeting at NU.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, the union and the companies exchanged multiple proposals. But at the end of the day, the two sides still disagreed on some points, especially wage increases.

Danielski said he and the rest of the Local 1 negotiating committee thought that on Tuesday “the talks would end one way or another” — in an agreement or in a strike.

“There were a number of significant issues to overcome, and when you’re boiling down to the last few issues, anything can happen,” Stein said. “But both sides stuck it out and reached what we found to be an acceptable agreement.”

On Tuesday, the companies’ final offer came around 12:15 p.m. and after consideration, the union’s committee agreed to it, Danielski said.

“Given the real significant increases and improvements their offer guaranteed us, the committee decided it was an acceptable offer,” he said.

As a gesture of goodwill, the janitors on the union committee were given the rest of the day and night off, Danielski said.

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Union, companies settle