Indianapolis Janitors Become Unionized: Is Health Care Next?

After four years of rallies, protests and marches, Indianapolis' five largest janitorial contracting firms have voluntarily recognized the Service Employees International Union, Local 3 (SEIU or Union), as their janitorial employees' collective bargaining representative. Over the last four years, the SEIU has waged a "corporate campaign" to pressure American Building Maintenance, Group Services France, Mitch Murch Maintenance Methods, Sommers Building Maintenance and Bulldog into voluntarily recognizing the Union. As is typical in corporate campaigns, the SEIU enlisted community activists, the clergy, politicians and rank-and-file union members to protest publicly what the SEIU characterized as the janitors' unfavorable terms and conditions of employment. The Union used public pressure to convince the janitorial companies to agree to the voluntary recognition of the Union - causing the companies to forgo their right to a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On April 19, 2008, the parties finalized the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. In the contract, the five janitorial companies agreed to raise janitors' wages to $9.00 per hour by 2012. In addition, the companies agreed to make health insurance available to their janitorial employees starting on January 1, 2011. The contract also increases janitors' work hours and provides them with six paid holidays.

Significantly, the "big increase" in janitors' wages and benefits that the SEIU has been advertising does not occur until 2011 (for health care) and 2012 (for wages). Accordingly, in the near term, the janitors have not obtained the dramatic improvement in wages and benefits that the SEIU is claiming it achieved.

Along with janitorial service providers, the SEIU has long targeted health care institutions, primarily in an effort to organize nurses. The SEIU may try to use their recent "success" in organizing Indianapolis' largest janitorial contractors as a springboard to organize Indiana health care facilities. Because of this, management of Indiana health care institutions should be especially alert to potential union activity in the coming months.