The following statement on the new agreement between the MBTA and SJ Janitorial Services can be attributed to Roxana Rivera Vice President of 32BJ SEIU the union representing contracted cleaners at the T:

“We commend the MBTA board’s attempts to right a wrong and agree to increase janitorial staffing at the T. We have always stated that laying off janitors who provide essential services to the T could only result in poorer service, overburdened workers and unhappy riders. This agreement between the MBTA and SJ Services is a step in the right direction, but unless the MBTA’s cleaning contracts are properly funded and structured to serve the needs of the public and the realities of maintaining an aging and complex transit system, riders will continue to smell the results. The MBTA should move forward with designing a procurement process that includes clear standards and criteria for workers and quality of services delivered.  We look forward to working with the T to develop this process in order avoid a repeat crisis in 2018, when the current cleaning contracts expire.”

With more than 163,000 members, including 18,000 in MA, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.