Minimum Wage For Chicago Window Washers

Carlos Perez, center, a lead organizer for Service Employees International Union Local 1, leads chants with window washers and their supporters during a rally for better wages June 29, 2015, in Chicago. Window washers "overwhelmingly" ratified a three-year labor contract July 22, 2015, that includes a pay raise.

Window washers ratify 3-year agreement: Window washers "overwhelmingly" ratified a three-year labor contract that would raise wages by up to 16 percent over the life of the agreement, the union said Wednesday. "It's a good step but it's not the end," said Tom Balanoff, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1.

Balanoff said the agreement, which covers 235 window washers, was reached last week and averted a strike. The union negotiated with Corporate Cleaning Services and seven other companies that bargained together in a coalition.

The workers, who now make from $11.15 to $17.65 per hour, will earn as much as $20.50 by the end of the contract, Balanoff said. The contract also calls for employers to pay 60 percent of health care insurance premiums, rather than a set amount, meaning companies will share cost increases with workers.

Despite those wins, a point system workers sought to end was expanded and could be used by all eight companies. Under the system, a worker gets a set amount of points, or hours, to clean a building's windows. If the window washers finish the work early, the company pays them commission. But if they work beyond the time allowed, they don't get any additional pay. Workers felt the system forced them to rush and take shortcuts, often at the expense of safety.

Window washer Cruz Guzman, 24, said the expansion of the system is disappointing, but the new contract contains language that keeps companies from lowering points and protects workers who chose to work on an hourly rate, rather than the point system. It also establishes seniority rights to protect older workers. Guzman said he sees the contract as a foundation. "We have a lot more to work on," he said.

Neal S. Zucker, chief executive of Corporate Cleaning Services, said in a statement that he believes the agreement is fair. "As Chicago's largest, all-union window-washing company, Corporate Cleaning Services is proud to have led negotiations on behalf of not only our employees, but for all window washers in Chicago," Zucker said.

More than 200 Chicago area window washers working both for Corporate Cleaning Services and for a Coalition of other major window washing contractors (“Coalition”) ratified a history making agreement on July 19.  The contract includes significant gains in pay, safety improvements, and protection of health care benefits. The window washers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1, and both Corporate Cleaning Services and the Coalition reached a unified agreement after contentious negotiations. Negotiations with Corporate Cleaning Services concluded ahead of the Coalition with the major employer leading the way and doing the right thing for Chicago’s working families. “We’re pleased we concluded bargaining with Corporate Cleaning Services as well as the Coalition,” said SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff.  “We are glad that Corporate Cleaning Service led the way for the other contractors by stepping up, giving significant raises to their employees and most importantly doing the right thing for Chicago’s working families.  

Our unified agreement with Corporate Cleaning Services and the Coalition will allow the window washers to provide a better future for their families and help raise America with good jobs.” Chicago’s window washers step over the edge of skyscrapers like the Trump Tower, Willis Tower, and the Hancock building and risk their lives to help billion dollar corporations, yet struggle to make ends meet for their families. Low wages stunt the growth of our economy: families can’t afford basic necessities, let alone go to the doctor or save for their children’s education. Window washing is a family industry in Chicago; generations of workers have been providing our city with an essential service. Window washers will continue to fight for a better future not only for their families, but for the entire middle class.

City of Chicago Minimum Wage - Minimum Wage Ordinance: On December 2nd, 2014, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance that will raise the minimum wage for Chicago workers to $13 per hour by 2019. This measure, sponsored by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alderman Will Burns, Alderman Pat O’Connor, and 31 other aldermen, will increase the earnings for approximately 410,000 Chicago workers, inject $860 million into the local economy, and lift 70,000 workers out of poverty.

In 2015, the City will begin phasing in its new minimum wage, as provided by the ordinance. This phase-in will help simplify the early years of implementation for businesses and employers. The City's ordinance raises the hourly minimum wage to $10 in 2015, $10.50 in 2016, $11 in 2017, $12 in 2018, and $13 in 2019, indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) after 2019.

On September 2, 2014, Mayor Emanuel signed an Executive Order requiring all City of Chicago contractors and subcontractors pay their employees a minimum of $13 per hour for work performed under a City contract. On September 30, 2014, the Mayor requested that all City of Chicago sister agencies follow suit.

An All Mercedes-Benz Operation

With its versatility and adaptability, the new Mercedes-Benz Citan provides answers to a huge and diverse range of requirements of an urban delivery van.

Mercedes-Benz Vans have all the right moves for Chequers: Award-winning Chequers Contract Services is benefiting from much-improved fuel-efficiency and reliability after switching to Mercedes-Benz. The South London-based cleaning and building services specialist runs a fleet of 85 vans, the majority of them car-derived models. Following a spate of problems with its previous supplier’s vehicles, Chequers has replaced comfortably more than a third of its vans over the last 18 months, and plans to become an all-Mercedes-Benz operation within the next three or four years.

Most of the vans supplied to date by Dealer Sparshatts of Kent have been Long and Extra-long Citan 109 CDIs – introduced in 2013, the Citan is the smallest van ever to wear a three-pointed star. Chequers is also running half a dozen mid-sized Vito 113 CDI Longs and a pair of larger Sprinters.

Chequers Contract Services was founded in 1987 by brothers Gary and Paul Jeal, and operates from headquarters in Croydon. Its clients include local authorities, housing associations, schools and colleges, as well as commercial enterprises. The company has won a string of prestigious accolades, the most recent including ‘Best Business for Apprenticeships and Employment of Young People’ at the London Business Awards 2014, ‘Business of the Year’ at the Croydon Business Awards 2014, and the ‘Carbon Smart Gold Award for the Environment 2014’.

Most of its Citans have been allocated to mobile cleaners – Chequers employs more than 40 who, between them, clean 2,000 staircases in blocks of flats every week. The bigger Vito vans, meanwhile, are used by window cleaning teams who use water fed pole systems, while the Sprinters are assigned to the company’s Drainage division. Future upgrades to Mercedes-Benz vehicles will benefit staff working for the firm’s School Cleaning, Office & Commercial, and Grounds Maintenance departments.

Chairman Gary Jeal recalled: “At the time we bought our first Sprinter Mercedes-Benz did not offer a small van, but that all changed with the launch of the Citan. Sparshatts’ sales executive Peter Corry left one with us so we tried it on four or five different rounds and it really did the business, particularly in terms of fuel consumption – the returns were up to a third better than we’d been getting from our previous car-derived vans, which was a revelation.

“As we’ve added more Citans to the fleet, so our running costs have come down, with the result that we cut our annual fuel bill by 25% last year. Given that most of our mobile cleaners are filling up twice a week, this represents a considerable cost saving.” He continued: “Those who drive the Citan can’t believe how much better it is than their previous vehicle; they just love the Mercedes-Benz. This explains why our cleaners are practically queuing up when it it’s their turn to upgrade.”

Chequers’ Mercedes-Benz Vans are the subject of a Service Care agreement, under which all labour, parts and lubricants required in routine servicing by Croydon-based Mercedes-Benz agent SG Smith are covered by a single, fixed monthly payment. “The maintenance package is competitively priced and allows us to budget with confidence,” added Gary Jeal. “So as far as we’re concerned, everything with Mercedes-Benz is ‘spot on’.”

Packed with clever features, the Mercedes-Benz Citan achieves up to 65.7 mpg and produces CO2 emissions as low as 112 g/km. Panel van versions are available in three lengths – Compact, Long and Extra-long – and offer volume carrying capacities of up to 3.8 m³ and a maximum payload potential of 735 kg.

Mercedes-Benz Citan Combi

Cleaning and building services specialist Chequers Contract Services says it is seeing much-improved fuel-efficiency and reliability since switching to Mercedes-Benz vans. The South London-based firm – which runs a fleet of 85 vans, most car-derived models – says it had been having problems with its unnamed previous supplier, and now plans to become an all-Mercedes-Benz operation.