WHO: Cleaners, tradespeople & security officers at MIT, Harvard and Bio Tech Commercial Buildings

WHAT: Rally to Raise Cambridge with Good Jobs

WHERE:  Rally at Kendall Square T stop, followed by march to Technology Square

WHEN:  3:30 PM, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  — On Wednesday at 3:30 PM service workers from across Cambridge will join together for good jobs in a rally and march from the plaza outside the Kendall Square T station to Technology Square. The gathering will emphasize the unity between workers at MIT, Harvard and the biotech corridor in Cambridge as contracts at all these workplaces come up for negotiations over the coming months.

“Cambridge is home to two of the greatest universities and many of the most innovative biotech corporations in the world,” said Roxana Rivera, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU District 615. “The service workers who keep these institutions running are rightfully proud of the work they do and are determined that these jobs remain sustainable, with good wages and benefits that allow workers an entry into the middle class. In too many sectors, we have seen these good jobs disappear. But Cambridge can remain a progressive leader by supporting workers now, as we move into broader negotiations for 15,000 service workers across Massachusetts and Rhode Island this summer and fall. “

Negotiations have already begun at MIT for 650 janitors, groundskeepers, tradespeople, athletics department workers, mailroom service workers, and security officers Contracts covering one thousand cleaners and security officers at Harvard expire in September and November. The master commercial contract, which covers over one thousand commercial building cleaners in Cambridge and thousands more across two states, expires on September 30.

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With more than 145,000 members in 11 states and Washington DC, including nearly 18,000 members in Massachusetts, 32BJ is the largest building service workers union in the country