Six years ago, the Service Employees International Union won the right to represent 5,300 janitors who cleaned big office buildings in Houston. The union promised to raise wages, boost work hours and improve working conditions for the part-time, low-wage and largely immigrant workforce.

But janitors in Houston continue to earn far less than their union counterparts in other cities, and many still have just four hours of work a night, the same as before the union came on the scene. Union-represented janitors in Houston start at $7.85 an hour. They get a 25-cent raise after six months and another 25 cents after a year. Most janitors top out at $8.35 an hour; daytime cleaners typically earn a little more.

That's far less than janitors in Chicago, who earn up to $15.45 an hour. Even janitors in Cincinnati, who are among SEIU's newest members, are earning $9.80 an hour.

Tim Reilly, lead negotiator for the Houston Area Contractors Association that includes ABM Janitorial Services, GCA Services and ISS Facility Services, said in a statement that collective bargaining agreements reflect local market conditions.

"In Houston, unlike some other markets, most of these are part-time positions, and still all are provided benefits," said Reilly, including paid vacation. "We recognize that, in these economic times, customers need to manage costs very carefully."

The janitors are vowing to get what they believe is their fair share this time around. They're hoping to raise their wage and increase their hours in negotiating a new contract to replace the existing one, which expires Thursday.

The janitors knew the last time they renegotiated - in 2009 during the depths of the economic slump - that they had to make a deal. But now Houston has one of the strongest real estate markets in the nation and is leading the nation in job creation.

The janitors are asking for a series of raises over the next three years to bring them up to $10 an hour. But union representatives said that in their most recent offer, the contractors have proposed raises of 10 cents an hour in each of the next two years and 15 cents an hour in 2015 and 2016. That would bring most janitors up to $8.85 an hour.

The union, which now represents 3,200 janitors, believes the contractors won't budge and voted Saturday to authorize a strike if necessary.

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