Former School Cleaners Protest, Demand Jobs Back

Seven former cleaners at the Ellis School in Shadyside, Pennsylvania, joined by union members, demanded their jobs back after their contracts were not renewed, according to an article on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents the employees of Alder Services, organized the rally. The union said the Alder employees’ jobs were undercut after another cleaning service was awarded the contract.

General Cleaning Inc. took over the contract on Aug. 1 with new workers represented by the United Steel Workers that are being paid $4 less an hour than the former staff from Alder.

Alyce Toombs, 47, of Wilkinsburg and the six other cleaners received $12.85 an hour under their SEIU 32BJ contracts while the new workers will be making less than $9 an hour. Ellis School said in a statement that cost was not a criteria they used in their decision with General Cleaning Inc. and will maintain roughly the same staffing levels.

Read full article here.