Cleaners win more than $1million in lost pay

Almost 500 mostly Latino janitors who cleaned UPS facilities, hotels, and other properties in Illinois and Texas have won a $1.2 million settlement in the latest in a growing number of lawsuits involving the failure of cleaning contractors to pay their employees according to federal overtime and minimum wage laws.

The janitors, who will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 from the settlement, were employed by cleaning firms which contracted with UPS and other major corporations to provide services in Chicago, Dallas and San Antonio.

According to the lawsuit filed with the assistance of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), cleaners were misclassified as 'independent contractors' and worked as much as 60 hours a week without being paid overtime. The employer also illegally stripped money out of the workers' wages to pay for insurance that provided little if any benefit to the workers.

Although UPS denied that it employed the cleaners, the plaintiffs alleged that it exercised control over the cleaners' working conditions and should be held accountable for the actions of its subcontractors. Including attorney's fees and the costs of administering the settlement, UPS paid over $1.25milion as a result of the litigation.

The settlement is the latest in a growing number of lawsuits over unlawful employment practices, known as 'wage and hour' claims, involving the practices of janitorial subcontractors of major US corporations. Subcontractors are sometimes used by companies to avoid liability for unlawful practices.

"This settlement - and the others before it - shows irresponsible cleaning contractors can no longer get away with an 'anything goes' philosophy that drive workers and families deeper into poverty," says Orrin Baird, SEIU Associate General Counsel. "More and more we're seeing major corporations being held accountable for doing business with unscrupulous employers."

In 2005, two thousand mostly Latino janitors in California won a class action settlement totaling $22.4 million - the largest settlement of its kind - involving the failure of janitorial subcontractors to comply with federal employment laws. The janitors involved in the lawsuit - also initiated by SEIU - were employed by subcontractors of the national supermarket chains Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Ralph's and received as much as $10,000 each as part of the settlement.

"When big corporations use subcontractors to subvert the law, it drives down standards for all hard-working people just trying to make a living and support their families," says Valarie Long, National Director of the SEIU Property Services Division. "These lawsuits send a sharp signal to crooked employers everywhere that the workers of the world are watching - and we will not tolerate this kind of unlawful behavior."

With 1.9 million members, SEIU is the largest and fastest-growing union in North America and the largest property services union, representing more than 250,000 security officers, cleaners, and other maintenance and custodial workers.

W: www.seiu.org

11th October 2007