32BJ SEIU & the Maintenance Contractors of New England
Sign Contract Extension during Justice for Janitors Week
Essential Workers & their Employers Reach Hopeful Milestone
As Mass. State of Emergency Expires
*Interviews with members and leadership available upon request*
Boston, MA.–On Wednesday—a day after Massachusetts’ state of emergency officially expired and weeks after Governor Baker fully reopened the state—32BJ SEIU and the Maintenance Contractors of New England (MCNE) signed a two-year extension of their current contract. The contract—which was set to expire September 30, 2021 and will now expire in Fall 2023—is subject to ratification by the 12,000 cleaners it covers, who work at commercial office buildings and public spaces throughout Metropolitan Boston, Central Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
In addition to protecting all current benefits, including family healthcare, the two-year extension includes wage increases in 2022 and 2023, and strong job protections. It comes on the heels of “Justice for Janitors” Day on June 15, a day unions commemorate janitors for their work—more essential than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic—and fight for better wages and unionization for this largely Black, brown, and immigrant workforce.
“We are proud to work with 32BJ to ensure strong jobs for the cleaners who keep our office buildings and public spaces clean, safe, and ready for business,” said Michael White, President/Chairman of the MCNE. “This agreement will allow us to provide stability and family-sustaining wages and benefits to our dedicated employees while enabling our industry to recover following this unprecedented crisis.”
“Our commercial cleaners are among those Black, brown, and immigrant communities that have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. The stability and strength of their jobs is key to our full recovery,” said Roxana Rivera, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU and local leader of the union. “During the worst of this crisis last spring, thousands of these workers were in layoff, and we’ve been glad to work with MCNE to get the majority of them back to work again. As we enter into more hopeful days for our industries and for our state, we need to make sure any economic recovery includes good, union jobs and stability for the most impacted communities. This contract does just that for the brave men and women who were on the frontlines of the pandemic.”
This is the second contract extension both parties have agreed to in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, the union and the MCNE took the bold step of extending their 2016-2020 contract agreement, which allowed management, union officials, and workers to focus on protecting the health, safety and economic well-being of working families and New England as a whole. Now, as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the entire country rebuild even as we mourn the millions we have lost to COVID-19, 32BJ SEIU and MCNE will continue to work together in the face of a challenging economic recovery and rebuilding for working families and the commercial real estate market.
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With more than 175,000 members in 11 states, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.
Collectively employing more than 14,000 cleaning personnel throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the MCNE is a multi-employer bargaining association representing over 30 of the region’s leading Building Service Contractors