Hundreds of Local 1 Commercial Office Janitors who clean Willis Tower, Merchandise Mart, Hancock Tower and other historic Chicago sites Rallied and Marched in Downtown Chicago, Demanding Fair Contract

Ahead of contract negotiations, workers were joined by President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Toni Preckwinkle, Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson, and dozens of Chicago Aldermen who gave their support to Local 1 janitors who are heading to the bargaining table.

CHICAGO, IL — Today, Thursday, March 13 at 3:45 PM – the day before SEIU Local 1 janitors head to the bargaining table with Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA) – more than 1,000 Local 1 janitors and allies alongside Cook County Commissioner President Preckwinkle, Mayor Johnson and dozens of Chicago Aldermen rallied at the Daley Center and marched to 300 West Madison where Local 1 janitors were recently displaced. Local 1 janitors service 85% of Commercial Office Buildings in Cook County and have kept the Downtown Chicago skyline clean and sparkling for over 100 years, including during the COVID pandemic. 

The contracts that impact 8,000 downtown janitors and suburban janitors, predominantly employed by ABM, Allied Universal Janitorial Services, and Harvard Maintenance, are set to expire April 7, 2024. On average, Local 1 janitors are tasked with cleaning 65,000 square feet of office space in one day with many walking up to 20,000 steps in a single shift – equivalent to almost nine miles of walking. Janitors will march from the Daley Center to 300 West Adams – 6% of what janitors walk in a day – to show community members the strenuous physical tasks janitors endure on the job. 

SEIU Local 1 janitors are bargaining to secure the future of janitorial work and to help secure the future of downtown commercial real estate. Downtown Chicago is an economic engine fueling every neighborhood in Chicagoland. When janitors have good wages, workers spend that money back in the communities they live in creating economic vitality across all of Chicago. Local 1  janitors contribute over $392 million to the Chicagoland economy and support thousands of jobs. 

“Local 1 janitors are a true reflection of Chicago – they are eastern-European, Latino, immigrants, Black, men and women, from the south side, north side, west side and suburbs – all who come to work in Downtown,” said SEIU Local 1 President Genie Kastrup. “When janitors who work downtown finish their shift, they commute back to their communities and reinvest there. Downtown Chicago is an economic engine fueling every neighborhood in Chicagoland so when janitors have good union jobs with liveable wages and strong benefits; their families and their communities reap the benefits making every neighborhood in Chicago prosperous! As a community, that is what we strive for so now we need to put it into action. Unfortunately, the current contract has fallen behind inflation, leaving working families struggling to get by. Local 1 janitors are ready to fight for a contract they deserve and the thousand of us here today prove it.”

“Local 1 janitors – more than 75% of us being women – showed up throughout the pandemic and did the selfless yet often invisible work. Now as people return downtown and the city becomes lively again, janitors are working even harder to give the community a sense of normalcy,” said SEIU Local 1 Janitor at Willis Tower Patricia Cabral. “We refuse to let building owners balance their budgets off of our backs when we are the ones who keep their buildings clean, functioning and safe. My coworkers and I are ready to fight for a contract that values our essential work because, without us, Chicago could not function.”

“This is a worker-led fight – we janitors are the ones organizing, we janitors are the ones rallying, we janitors are the one at the bargaining table and we janitors are the ones committed to doing whatever it takes to win a strong new contract,” said SEIU Local 1 Executive Board member and Janitor Krystyna Galik. “We are coming together across race, language, gender, zip code and workplace to unite around this fight for our future – and we are coming by the thousands. Let’s get to that bargaining table tomorrow and demand what we deserve!”

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Service Employees International Union Local 1 unites 45,000 workers throughout the Midwest, including janitors, security officers, airport workers, higher education faculty, food service workers, and others. Local 1 is committed to improving the lives of its members and all working people by winning real economic justice and standing at the forefront of the fight for immigrant, racial and environmental justice.