Service workers reach tentative 4-year contract

A union representing more than 2,600 building service workers in Philadelphia has reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract that would provide wage increases and maintain employer-paid health coverage.

The Service Employees International Union’s bargaining committee says workers will receive an average cumulative pay increase of nearly 7 percent over the next four years and a $600 bonus the first year.

The agreement also maintains employer-paid health care and pensions. It is subject to ratification by union members.

The agreement reached yesterday was between the service workers union and the Building Owners Labor Relations, Inc., an organization representing some of the city’s major commercial office building owners, managers and cleaning companies.

Before the agreement came, workers rallied with Occupy Philly protesters. Check WHYY’s Elizabeth Fiedler’s report from that scene here.