BOSTON, MA – 32BJ SEIU and Boston University reached a tentative agreement Thursday night that would provide 10% raises over four years and maintain affordable health care benefits for properties service workers. If ratified by the union members, the contract would cover 700 custodians, mailroom operators, groundskeepers and skilled trades workers who maintain and repair nearly 300 buildings throughout the BU campus.

“Today we are proud to say that the hardworking men and women who make BU strong have a strong contract on the table,” said Roxana Rivera District Director of 32BJ SEIU. “In a city that is becoming increasingly unequal, this contract will keep 700 workers strongly in the middle class.”

The unity and strength of 32BJ members, combined with BU’s strong financial footing resulted in an agreement that avoided a potential strike at a time of increasing income inequality in Boston and across the country.

The 700 custodians, mailroom operators, groundskeepers and skilled trades workers continue to have access to quality, cost-effective healthcare and they will be better able to provide for themselves and their families and put money back into their local communities.

With more than 145,000 members in 11 states and Washington DC, including 18,000 members in the Boston Area, 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the country.