Philly office cleaners protest ‘union busting’ New Jersey contractor

For the past 8 years, Norristown resident Marcelina Lemus has worked cleaning office buildings across the Philadelphia suburbs.

Lemus was one of dozens of union workers who marched in downtown Conshohocken on Thursday afternoon to protest a company that hires non-union employees.

She said that there are many Latinos working as office cleaners in the region.

“We are fighting right now for there to be more buildings with unions,” Lemus said in Spanish. “I have felt and seen the difference in a good-paying job.”

The SEIU represents office cleaners across 350 buildings in the Philadelphia metro area and thousands of workers.

Planned Companies, a Parsippany, New Jersey-based building services business, stopped using union workers when it took over a commercial building contract in mid-May, organizers said.

Planned Companies did not respond to WHYY for this story. About 15 percent of its workforce of more than 4,300 individuals are union members, according to the company’s website.

“In our industry, blanket one-size-fits-all labor union agreements are not ideal for our employees and for the services they provide to our clients,” according to a statement on Planned Companies website.

Lemus said that as a mother of three children and a Mexican immigrant, it’s important that she’s able to earn enough money to care for her family. So far, that’s what being part of the union has enabled her to do.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a difficult time, she said.

“I love my job and I take it seriously,” she said. “I didn’t need anyone to tell me that me and my co-workers were essential workers. I already knew it.”

Despite relying on janitorial workers to sanitize buildings more often, some management companies cut back on cleaning services during the pandemic as many workers stayed home. Across the region, 200 cleaners were laid off, union leaders said.

Daisy Cruz, 32BJ SEIU Pennsylvania Mid Atlantic District leader said that for the past 15 years, the union has worked to make sure the wages and benefits were higher than average and has grown to $16.35 an hour for cleaners.

“We’re all here united in letting [Planned Companies] know that what they did was not right,” Cruz said. “These are people who are taking care of their families on off of these wages and these benefits.”

Last year, the SEIU filed a complaint against Planned Companies with the Federal Trade Commission over Planned Companies’ policy that contract workers were prohibited from being hired directly by its clients which include hundreds of residential, corporate, and commercial retail properties.

The 32BJ SEIU labor contract with the Building Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia is slated to expire on October 15. The overarching contract covers 3,200 office cleaners across hundreds of buildings including Center City and University City office towers.