|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
County-contracted cleaners targeted by union
A labor union has has filed an unfair labor practice charge against a local cleaning services company contracted by Fairfax County.
Golden Gate Services, Inc., based in Fairfax, is being accused by SEIU-Local 32BJ, of unlawful surveillance and interrogation of part-time employees as well as threatening them with discharge and retaliation for lawful union activities at two Fairfax County Government offices.
In addition to filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Golden Gate on behalf of the cleaners, SEIU has also staged protests in front of county facilities and sent a letter to the county's Department of Purchasing and Supply Management. The department solicited bids for the four cleaning contracts that the county currently has with Golden Gate.
"Although the County’s Board of Supervisors approved a living wage of $12.75 an hour for regular county employees and encourages all county vendors to adopt a similar living wage for their employees, Golden Gate-employed cleaners who maintain the Government Complex are paid as little as $7 per hour," said Jaime Contreras, Local 32BJ Capital Area Director, in the letter.
Cathy Muse, the department's director, called the letter's allegations "alleged" and said that "it would be inappropriate for us to do anything other than ensure that Golden gate is obeying the law."
Taylor Waldruff, office manager of Golden Gate's Fairfax office said that the nearly 300+ part-time workers contracted by the company are all paid "at least minimum wage" and that the company has no objection to workers joining a union "on a building by building basis."
She called SEIU's unfair labor practice charge "one of many heavy-handed tactics routinely used by SEIU to force us to agree to a collective bargaining agreement that would force us to give up all our rights." She said that a former complaint issued by SEIU last year was dismissed earlier this year for lack of evidence, and that she expected this one to meet the same fate.
You must be logged in to post a comment.