WASHINGTON - August 24 - Janitors at the University of Miami today voted to ratify a four-year contract with UNICCO Services that will lift hundreds of janitors out of poverty; increase wages by as much as 51 percent over the wages they were earning at this time last year; guarantee secure, affordable health care even as health care costs rise; and increase paid vacation time.

“A year ago when we started to organize a union, we were told that it could not be done here in Florida. But our need was great. Despite working hard every day, many of us did not earn enough to take care of our families, many of us had to work two or three jobs, seven days a week, just to afford a place to live,” said Clara Vargas, a UM janitor and member of the bargaining team, “Today, we have hope for a more secure future, a chance to make our lives and the lives our children better.”

Last fall, janitors at the university earned as little as $6.40 an hour and were not provided with health insurance for themselves or their families. After months of a very public organizing campaign and several weeks on strike, the university mandated that contractors on campus provide their employees with higher wages and health insurance. On May 1, they won the right to form a union by method of their choosing, and several weeks later the janitors voted overwhelmingly through the majority sign-up process to join SEIU.

The contract, which runs from Sept. 1, 2006, through Aug. 31, 2010, provides janitors with raises each year, and guarantees that their health care will remain affordable. In addition to the wage increases, janitors will receive three additional vacation days and three new holidays, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and the day after Thanksgiving.

Much of the new job growth in Florida and the nation have been from the creation of low wage jobs that do not provide workers with health insurance, retirement or other benefits. Economists warn that the explosion of low-wage, no-benefit jobs threaten to undermine the economic competitiveness of South Florida and the nation.

“Florida needs jobs that lifts workers out of poverty, not drive them deeper into it, and jobs that restore the American Dream, not diminish it,” said Rob Schuler, president of SEIU Local 11. “Good jobs improve the quality of services, they make the community stronger, and they help families thrive.”

According to a report by the Research Institute on Economic Policy published in February 2006, the rise in wages translates into real improvements for families. The report cited improvements in housing, education, and the ability to reduce debt for workers who saw their wages go up.

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