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Cleaners’ union approves new contract for Baltimore workers

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A union that represents about 700 commercial office cleaners in Baltimore on Saturday ratified a new contract, which provides workers with an additional sick day and annual wage increases of 50 cents per hour for the next four years.

The deal with the Washington Service Contractors Association, which would expire in October 2019, covers 10,500 full- and part-time workers in the Washington region. More than 500 people attended meetings to ratify the contract, said Julie Karant, a spokeswoman for the 32BJ Service Employees International Union.

“Our region’s cleaners are fighting and winning better jobs they deserve, like other low-wage workers in New York and across the country,” said 32BJ SEIU Vice President Jaime Contreras in a statement announcing the contract’s approval. “The men and women who clean our offices have won a great contract that will help them better support their families and our economy.”

Under the new agreement, pay for a part-time cleaner in the Baltimore area will increase from $12.70 per hour to $13.20 per hour in July of next year. A full-time worker’s pay will increase to $13.70 per hour. The number of sick days for Baltimore-area workers is also set to increase from three per year to four. (In Washington and Montgomery County, local laws require companies to offer up to seven sick days.)

The Washington Service Contractors Association represents cleaning companies in the Baltimore area that include USSI, Red Coats Inc., ABM Industries and PNR Group. The current contract had been set to expire in October.

nsherman@baltsun.com