WeWork Strikes A Union Deal, Ending Clash With Cleaners
Source: Buzz Feed
Cora Lewis
The union-backed campaign targeting cleaning staff at shared office space provider WeWork has notched up a victory: The company will now use unionized cleaners, at least in New York and Boston.
WeWork agreed Tuesday to work with union-friendly cleaning contractors at its locations in the two cities, after previously dealing with a nonunion provider that paid less than half the standard union wage. It will also pay compensation to former cleaners who lost their jobs when the previous contractor ended its relationship with WeWork in August amid union-backed protests.
While the company has said it will try to rehire as many of the fired cleaners as possible, WeWork will make a $250,000 pool of compensation available to those who lost their jobs and are not re-hired. The money will be distributed according to a formula based on years of service, said the company, which was valued at $10 billion by investors in a funding round this June.
Since summer, the cleaners had picketed and leafleted, organized street theater, and delivered petitions, all with the goals of joining a union and receiving wages comparable to those of most of New York’s building and office service workers, the majority of whom are unionized.
FULL story at link.
The union local: http://www.seiu32bj.org/
The company: https://www.wework.com/
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/coralewis/wework-makes-a-deal-with-seiu-severance-and-re-hires#.crM9Prq9g
