CHICAGO (AP) -- Thousands of janitors who work in downtown office buildings were to return to work Tuesday after ratifying a three-year contract that boosts pay and improves benefits.
The contract was agreed on Monday after the janitors, who work in Loop business district, went on a 24-hour walkout to protest the lack of progress in negotiations.Workers cheered when negotiators for the Service Employees International Union read them the details of the settlement, said union spokesman Ken Munz.
"It is a very good settlement," he said. "It's the best we have seen in a decade."
The agreement calls for a pay increase of 45 cents in the first year, with increases of 35 cents and 30 cents in subsequent years. The contract also requires employees to increase their contributions to health insurance plans and adds a fifth week of vacation after 25 years.
Munz said janitors have seen their pay decrease over the past eight years compared to the cost of living. Their salary of $10.10 an hour in 1992 has increased to $11.40, $1.10 short of keeping up with the cost of living during that period, he said.
Now that Loop janitors have a new contract, the union must focus on janitors who service commercial buildings in Chicago's suburbs.
The suburban janitors are threatening to walk off their jobs if negotiations with a mediator fail to make headway.